U.S. Consumers Still Don't Trust Banks

Banker bonuses are a primary cause of general anti-bank feeling; however, Americans do express satisfaction with their own bank.

Even though much of the U.S. banking industry turned a corner last year performance-wise, U.S. consumers' confidence in banks plummeted an eye-popping 55% in 2010, according to a recent Ernst & Young survey. The consulting firm surveyed 20,500 people around the world, 2,001 of them in the U.S. According to the report, depressed economies and banker bonuses are the two biggest reasons for the lack of confidence among consumers, especially in the U.K. and the U.S. Among Americans, 69% said banker pay was one of the reasons they've lost faith in banks. Globally, confidence in banks has decreased 44%, according to the survey.

But although overall trust of the banking industry is dropping, Americans seem to be happy with the bank they use: 77% of U.S. consumers score their own bank four out of five in satisfaction, and this was higher than in any other country.

The research also found that while U.S. consumers are very satisfied with branches, internet banking and ATMs, only 34% are satisfied with mobile banking. The report suggests that this is because the adoption of mobile banking is still low; globally, 42% of respondents never use mobile banking.

The survey found that 31% of U.S. consumers who changed banks did so because of service quality.