消费者对社区银行现状的认知及社区银行的未来

CONTEXTThe expression of being caught between arock and a hard place could not be truerfor community banks who are undertremendous pressure to adjust theircurrent playbook to survive. The fact weare at this juncture is quite surprising sincefor decades community banks were astellar segment of the banking industry,representing the largest share of financialinstitutions in the US. However, from 2004to present day, community bankinginstitutions experienced a decline of morethan 3,800 organizations, highlighting thissegment is the most vulnerable todisruption. With recent announcements ofmergers and the deregulatory attitude ofthe new administration, we should expectto witness a greater number of mergerswithin the sector.These and many more market dynamicsare stifling community banks’ ability togrow, caught between larger National andRegional Banks, both encroaching on theircommunity equities. Behemoths such asChase are ramping up community bankingprograms on one side. On the other side ofthe equation, grassroots-focused CreditUnions and online-only financialinstitutions are meeting other emergingneeds.2|THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY BANKING The heavy cost of digital transformationdid not help the relevancy of communitybanks, as this banking segment laggedthe better funded national institutions orbetter network leveraged credit unions,as noted in our2017 Overcoming StealthAttrition In Retail Banking Study.The growth of consolidation throughmergers, evolving customer needs andrising competition from national banks,credit unions and digital financialinstitutions are driving the loss ofcommunity institutions.In 2024, therewas a notable increase in credit unionsacquiring community banks, with 19such acquisitions announced nationwideby October 25.The current industrydata also suggests community banksmust redefine what it means to belongto the neighborhoods they serve inorder to achieve enduring success. DEMOGRAPHICSANDMETHODOLOGYThree online quantitative studies wereconducted, starting with 1,500respondents in both Canada and the USon the importance of key communityfactors across national, regional,community, credit union and online onlybanking segments. A similar follow-upstudy was conducted with 500 bankersfrom a broad range of financial institutionsto identify where there is alignment anddiverging views with consumers on whatcommunity strategies have the greatestimpact.Following the completion of these studies,additional research was conducted todetermine how the key community factorsidentified in the initial study are driving areduction in attrition and stimulatinggrowth. The research also took a deeperlook on the state of community bankingversus larger institutions and creditunions.In total, the studies gained input from over4,000 consumers and 500 bankers.The analysis of the data in this study wasenriched by the expertise of B. A MarbueBrown and Dr. John Hughes.For the purpose of brevity, we haveseparated the reports into this one,focused on US consumers, another forCanadian consumers, and a third study forthe banking perspective.To receive the additional studies, pleaseemail jplacroix@sld.com. Shockingly, almost 1 in 4 community bankcustomers are thinking of moving most or allof their business, 1.5 times more than that ofnational banks. And once these customersare lost, they seldom return, with 20%moving to national banks and another 23%shifting to credit unions. The level of attritionshould not be surprising; community bankshave the lowest NPS (net promoter scores)at 54% and lowest overall customersatisfaction in their institution at 64%. Incontrast, national and regional institutionsrank in the mid 60s on NPS scores and in thehigh 80son customer satisfaction.Community Banks win at first, lose thelong gameOne of the key insights from the study is thatalthough community banks tend to attract agreater percentage of customers in the firsttwo years (70% versus national banks at 7%),they are challenged in keeping thesecustomers past thetwo to five year mark.Community banks are leaky buckets, losingcustomers faster than they acquire them. Bycontrast, national banks continue to growduring this period to 29% in year six to tenwith a retention rate of 41%, mostly at thecost of community banks.How many years customers have been conductingthe majority of their banking with their primaryinstitution?Community Bank customers areMORE LIKELY to leave within the firsttwo years KEY FINDINGSBalancing growth whilereducing attritionStrengths becoming vulnerabilitiesThe study highlights that not all is lost forcommunity institutions, as customers viewthem to be more involved and invested intheir communities, have strong communityconnections, and are seen as trustedadvisors. Although these factors provide keycompetitive leverage points, they mask whatis really influencing attrition or helping drivegrowth. The fact remains, higher level ofdissatisfied ratings amongst communitybank customers indicate a growingvulnerability. This conce