Retail banking (checking and savings accounts and personal loans) enjoyed a fairly high level of customer satisfaction last year, but that doesn’t apply across the board to banks of all sizes. Generally speaking, the smaller the bank, the more satisfied its customers are likely to be.

In our recent survey on customer service conducted by Zogby Analytics, the top-ranked large national bank placed 39th among all 150 companies and 17 industries included in the survey. The lowest ranked bank ranked 148th among all 150 companies, and two of the big banks ranked in the bottom five for customer service.

The survey included a telephone interview with 1,500 randomly selected U.S. consumers. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction level with a company’s customer service on a scale of “excellent,” “good,” “fair” and “poor” for each company.

We reported our overall findings in our Customer Hall of Fame and Customer Hall of Shame stories published in August. We have also broken out and taken a look at customer service ratings in the pay-TV industry, the mobile network carrier industry and the airline industry.

Here is a listing of six national banks ranked from best to worst based on the percentage of “excellent” ratings they received in the survey. Also included are the percentage of “poor ratings” and the revenues generated by banks in their most recent fiscal year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)
> Overall rank: 39th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 34.25%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 11.24%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $93.7 billion

JPMorgan operates through four segments: consumer and community banking; corporate and investment bank; commercial banking; and asset and wealth management. The bank was founded in 1799 and is based in New York City.

Capital One Finance Corp. (NYSE: COF)
> Overall rank: 66th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 31.27%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 9.78%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $27.52 billion

Capital One was founded in 1988 and is based in McLean, Virginia. The bank operates in three segments: credit card, consumer banking and commercial banking.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC)
> Overall rank: 97th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 28.98%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 21.06%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $94.2 billion

Wells Fargo operates in three segments: community banking, wholesale banking and wealth and investment management. The bank was founded in 1852 and is based in San Francisco.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC)
> Overall rank: 105th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 27.73%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 23.13%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $93.7 billion

Bank of America operates in four segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and global markets. The bank is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was founded in 1874.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)
> Overall rank: 126th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 25.45%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 12.11%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $62.57 billion

Citigroup is based in New York City and was founded in 1812. The bank operates in two segments: Citicorp, which offers traditional banking services to retail customers, and Citi Holdings, which provides consumer loans and maintains a portfolio of securities, loans and other assets.

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HSBC)
> Overall rank: 148th
> Pct. “excellent” ratings: 20.72%
> Pct. “poor” ratings: 13.31%
> Revenue last fiscal year: $44.56 billion

The bank operates through four segments: Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Private Banking. The bank was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in London.

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