Reputation Institute Ranks Huntington Bank Second

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Of 32 national and large regional banks, Huntington Bank ranked second-highest overall for best reputation, the July issue of American Banker Magazine reports.

Among its customers, Huntington scored 82.07, a rating of excellent on a 100-point scale, 6.68 points higher than last year. A rating of 80 or high is deemed excellent.

The other seven with such a rating: Regions Financial, 83.26; Bank of the West, 81.64; First Niagara, 81.32; Synovus Financial, 80.70; Comerica, 80.65; Union Bank, 80.41; and BNY Mellon, 80.39.

American Banker, a trade publication, sponsored the online survey conducted by the Reputation Institute in March and April. The 32 banks were chosen by American Banker based on the Federal Reserve’s list of the largest commercial banks and  on the size of assets and deposits as of December 2014.

At least 100 customers and another 100 people who aren’t customers rated each bank in the survey, the Reputation Institute said.

This is the sixth year the Reputation Institute has conducted surveys of nine industries and the first that any bank achieved a rating of excellent, American Banker said. Overall, at 66.13, the financial services industry ranks eighth, only the energy industry rated lower.

While the customers of the banks surveyed gave their institutions high marks for good reputations, those who weren’t customers did not. None of the 32 was credited with having an excellent reputation beyond their customers.

Huntington made the top-5 for reputation in six categories: products (customers said it’s No. 1, noncustomers No. 2); leadership (customers No. 4, noncustomers No. 3); governance (noncustomers No. 4); citizenship (noncustomers No. 4); innovation (noncustomers No. 5); performance (customers No. 3, noncustomers No. 4).

The chief marketing officer for Huntington, David Clifton, attributed his bank’s reputation to products such as 24-Hour Grace, which allows a customer a day to make a deposit that covers a shortage in his checking account.

While the bank lost $30 million in overdraft fees last year, it has also resulted in the bank opening 500,000 new checking accounts since 2009, Clifton said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.