Three substantial consumer studies were released this week. In total, more than 12,000 U.S. consumers weighed in on their banking satisfaction. All three projects came to the same and somewhat surprising conclusion:

Consumer satisfaction with banks and/or online banking has remained high, and relatively unchanged, despite the events of the past year.

I expected all the bad press, not to mention a couple trillion in bad loans, would drag down scores across the board. But apparently consumers are loyal to their primary financial institutions, or feel sorry for them, and continue to hand out high grades when market researchers come calling. That's a bit of good news for the future of the industry.

1.  Forrester's The Experiences that Satisfy Consumers 2009 (post here) has an interesting comparison across industries and across channels (phone, in-person, and Web) and Web banking was the star of the study (note 2):

• Banks had the highest satisfaction of all eleven industry categories (note 3) in the Web channel (84%). The low was 66% at health insurers and TV service providers.
• Banks had the highest satisfaction differential between their online and telephone channels, with Web beating phone by 12 points (84% vs. 72%). The next highest was PC manufacturers with a 9-point differential, followed by Internet service providers at +8 points.
• And surprisingly, given how much money is spent on branches, banks had the second-highest satisfaction differential between online and in-person, +5 points (84% vs. 79%). First place was airlines, with a 9-point differential. Third place went to wireless providers at +2 points. 
• Banking was only industry to increase its Web satisfaction rate compared to a year ago
• Only 2 channel scores beat banking's Web satisfaction and both of those were in-person experiences: retailers (88%) and hotels (86%)
  

2. comScore's annual state of the online banking industry (note 4, press release) found that overall customer satisfaction is relatively unchanged during past three years:

• Percent of total customers who were "highly satisfied" of their primary financial institution
  2007 = 70%             2008 = 72%           2009 = 71%
  

3. ForeSee Result's annual state of online banking (note 5, press release) found considerable growth in online banking satisfaction during the past 5 years:

• Out of 100 points, here's the scores for online banking:
  2003 = 73    2005 = 77   2007 = 78   2008 = 82   2009 = 83
• Credit unions had the highest satisfaction in the 2009 survey
  Credit unions = 86    Community banks = 82  Large banks = 82
  

Notes:
1. Forrester: Number = 4,500, fielded Q4, 2008; purchase here for US$749
2. Forrester broke out credit card issuers separately, but their Web and phone satisfaction rates were identical, so I've lumped them together to simplify the analysis.
3. The other categories: Airlines, health insurance plans, hotels, insurance providers, Internet service providers, investment firms, PC manufacturers, retailers, TV service providers, wireless service providers.
4. comScore: Number = 4,846, fielded last week of Feb. 2009
5. ForeSee Results: Number = 2,500, fielded March 3-18, 2009