Customer Advocacy 2007: How Customers Rate Banks, Brokerages, Insurers, and Credit Card Issuers

Customer advocacy drives real loyalty — a willingness to buy and borrow more from, and save and invest more with, a firm that a consumer already uses. When consumers rate their financial institutions on customer advocacy, insurers rank highest, led by USAA. Many brokerages, especially full-service firms like A.G. Edwards, were rated higher this year than last. The largest US banks continue to bring up the rear, their credit card operations scoring just as poorly as their banking operations. Top-rated firms like credit unions, on the other hand, manifest customer advocacy by emphasizing product independence and delivering solutions that take the whole customer relationship into account.