Canada's BEST and WORST Consumer Banking Customer Service Level Experiences

For the third straight year, Conexus Credit Union provides the Best Digital Banking Service Experience in Canada

It is difficult to turn on any media source and not find someone, or some group, complaining about poor customer service experiences. In most cases, the complaints are valid. The digital banking industry is not doing anything to improve the theory, averaging a staggering 50 hours to respond to a non-social media digital interaction in 2022. Even a deeper dive into the top ten firms, which removes the outliers, indicates an average close to 30 hours which further supports the theory. Service reputation use to be the top priority at all Canadian banks and credit unions, and it was based on responsiveness and quality of the perceived service which translated to trust. Today it appears that reputation and trust are taking a back seat behind profits.

The banking industry loves to introduce new customer interaction capabilities to hide from the ones they are not servicing correctly, the newest being the robot/AI-based virtual assistants. Coupled with the trend that emerged over the past decade to move secure interactions to controversial social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook and the result is that consumers are not being digitally serviced as they deserve. Could it be that it is part of the master plan at firms as they market digital-based in-branch appointment bookings and promote phone numbers at a level not seen in decades? Service responsiveness statistics along with the newer poorly executed customer interaction methods send a message to Canadian consumers that service experiences are not going to improve any time soon.

Review Headlines

CONEXUS CREDIT UNION is #1

CONEXUS CREDIT UNION remains the new leader in terms of overall service methods, availability, and responsiveness for the third straight year.

CREDIT UNIONS AND CO-OP DOMINATE TOP FIRMS

The top seven spots in the rankings are taken up by six credit unions and one co-operative movement cousin DESJARDINS, who finished 2nd, up nine rankings.

NEO BANKS DISAPPOINT-AGAIN

Non-branch firms EQ BANK and ALTERNA BANK are both responding to non-customer service interactions just shy of 3 days which doesn't make a lot of sense for firms who do not offer physical interactions.

THE NO NON-SOCIAL e-METHOD CLUB GROWS BY 2

The move to remove access to email-based and form-based service interactions grew by two firms with RBC ROYAL BANK and PACE CREDIT UNION joining the now eight-firm club. What this means is that this club only offers social-based or phone-based interactions for non-customers or add on appointment bookings mostly found at the big banks.

HSBC CANADA IS THE LOWEST RANKED BANK

HSBC CANADA moved up one position in 2023 but remains the worst bank firm out of the 32 firms studied.

BLUESHORE FINANCIAL IS THE WORST FIRM FOR SERVICE RESPONSIVENESS

BLUESHORE FINANCIAL responds to non-customer interactions, on average, in 110 hours. May as well join the no e-method club firms if they can't deliver.

LAURENTIAN BANK HAS RE-APPEARED

LAURENTIAN BANK OF CANADA continues to show life and moved up 18 spots in the rankings. Now its time to cut ties with its credit-union-based platforms.

Go to Review Highlights

Go to The BEST and WORST Firms by Category

Go to The Last Word

2023 Service Experience Rankings

Review Highlights

Initial Impressions Tell a Big Story

Surviscor reviews service interactions for over 45 Canadian financial services firms and has been collecting and reviewing over 110,000 interactions over the past 15 years. All firms reviewed are offered the opportunity to act, and react, to the records with the hopes of dedicating themselves to improving service levels. Some are interested. Some are not. In most cases, the outside-the-walls experience provides a high-probability view of the future inside-the-walls customer-based experience.

Secure Interaction Methods Nothing to Brag About

Digital banking firms make a big deal about the danger of non-secure interactions and the message to onlookers is that customers receive better treatment and more effective methods once inside the walls. The research continues to indicate otherwise. In most cases, those areas of customer interaction inside the walls are dated and poorly designed for near-instant messaging and the secure-side turnaround times are not as fast as one would hope.

Coverage Periods Include Weekends and Evenings

Most digital banking firms, unlike Online Brokerage firms, should be commended on the 7 days a week service coverage which typically includes a minimum 12-plus hours during weekdays. While many big banks have 24/7 coverage, the research shows that it is mainly by phone and the responsiveness is not great. The good news is weekends and evenings are typically when questions arise and supporting customers in these crucial times goes a long way, especially for credit unions.

Virtual Assistants - Another Questionable Method

The first try at non-phone customer interaction was Chat, a first-generation live human-based interaction using a keyboard or accessibility method with very limited daily coverage. Then came Chat-Bots which eliminated the human from the equation and fully extended hours of coverage but typically ended in the need for a phone call. Then came social media platforms which acted more like the first-generation Chat interaction and is now being questioned for its questionable ownership and security. Today the new buzz is Virtual Assistants, which some industry experts say have more of a marketing angle rather than enhancing service. They clearly are leading to a lack of trust and frustration with consumers.

Neo/Virtual Banks Missing the Mark

This story, unfortunately, never gets old as it is the same highlight each and ever year. Not only do these firms have weak features and functionality of the digital platforms, but these banks are also not providing adequate service responsiveness, methods, or availability of services to both potential and existing customers. Outside of EQ BANK, who's average response time is 71 hours over the past two years and PC FINANCIAL, who only offers full customer service options to its credit card customers, the other Neo Banks fall under larger banking umbrellas and are presented as discount offering with lower fees ad higher rates. Discount is the key word, but service shouldn't be the give-up for minimal rate differentials.

The BEST and WORST Firms - By Category

The Service Level Experience audits three main categories, including 8 sub-categories, to establish the best and worst online brokerage firms in Canada. The general approach is to analyze all available customer service contact options and the availability at each online brokerage firm and focus in on both the pre-login and logged-in areas of each firm's digital platforms. The last component, and most important as it provides the necessary differentiation between firms, is the actual service responsiveness of each firm over the latest calendar year. The following provides a quick look at the individual category results:

Category 1: NON-CUSTOMER INTERACTION RESOURCES

The Non-Customer Interaction Resources category audits the public-site customer service touchpoints and personal assistance a self-directed investor can use at any given online brokerage firm including phone support, messaging centres, live chat, and other non-secure touch points on both the desktop-based and mobile-based platforms.

Category 2: CUSTOMER INTERACTION RESOURCES

The Customer Interaction Resources category audits the self-directed contact methods available at online brokerage firms including phone support, messaging centres, live chat, and other touchpoints of the secure login desktop and mobile platforms.

Category 3: SERVICE RESPONSIVENESS

The Service Responsiveness category is a summary of the 147 service interactions collected per firm initiated through the digital banking firm's chosen public-facing interaction facility, including an average time to respond, a peer-based service level index, the success of any stated response promise guidelines and information on the optimal days of the week to interact. The results are collected through Surviscor's proprietary 18-year Service Level Monitoring and Benchmarking program.

FIRM RESPONSE TIMES and SURVISCOR STANDARDS

Surviscor has established 4 levels of response standards based on the average time to respond to a service interaction. The standards were first established in 2007 and were adjusted with lower response times in 2010 to reflect a good era for service, only to see the standards increased again in 2020 to, sadly, reflect the new normal of customer service expectations. The 2022 Surviscor Response Standards and non-Standards results are:

BELOW SURVISCOR STANDARD RESPONSE TIMES

The good news is that the Non-Standards club is getting smaller as 5 firms jumped into the Surviscor response standards window of 24 hours. The remaining 7 firms, who do not respond within 24 hours, are classified into 5 distinct, but nothing to write home about, response clubs. Hopefully your firm is not a member because this club has no privileges.

THE 1 - 2 DAYS TO RESPOND CLUB

THE 2-3 DAYS TO RESPOND CLUB

THE 3-4 DAYS TO RESPOND CLUB

THE 4-5 DAYS TO RESPOND CLUB

THE NO MORE e-CONTACT CLUB

The No More e-Contact Club is unfortunately growing each year. RBC ROYAL BANK and PACE CREDIT UNION entered the club in 2022.

The club can be described as firms who are no longer interested in communicating with potential consumers via email or public-site forms. Instead, these firms have chosen to push potential consumers to social media, phone and branch-level contact methods. The irony is, in most cases, the primary point of identification and contact when opening an account is email and in many cases the email. The message is basically that they will allow you to use email once a customer but until then, you better like social media.

Key Service Responsiveness Findings

The Service Responsiveness category provides a wealth of information through its collection of over 3200 individual service interactions in 2022. Here is a quick look at some of the key findings:

• CONEXUS CREDIT UNION has the lowest response time of 6.47 hours
• LAURENTIAN BANK of CANADA improved 38 hours to 48.88-hour response time
• DESJARDINS improved 18 hours to 21.07-hour response time
• WEDNESDAY is the BEST day of the week to send service inquiries


• Industry's average response time increased by 20% to 49.66 hours
• BLUESHORE FINANCIAL takes 110 hours to respond to non-customers
• SIMPLII FINANCIAL's response time increased by 32 hours to 78.88 hours
• The Consumer Digital Banking Industry's top 10 average response time of 30.01 hours is 17.29 hours worse than the top 10 Online Brokerage average
• FRIDAY is the WORST day of the week to send service requests

Go back to the Service Experience Rankings

The Last Word

Accountability is the key to customer service success but what has appeared to be lost is the fact that it is a two-way street. Firms need to be accountable to both themselves and customers and the firms who make it part of their operational culture thrive and investors who demand it, thrive with a great partnership experience.

Canadian Banks and Credit Unions do very well with your money and should be held accountable to the highest standards of customer experience. Hold your current, or potential firm, to the highest standard while always remembering that the consumer holds the cards, not the banking firm, and there are many firms, big and small, to choose from. #FindTheRightFirm

Would you like to see where Canadian Online Broker service levels are at?

Online Brokerage 2023 Service Experience Rankings: Canada's Best and Worst Online Brokerage Service Experiences