Location: Stanford
Author: Jeanine Canneto
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Turmoil in global credit markets and the economic slowdown are prompting many U.S. businesses to establish additional relationships with a wide variety of banks as a means of securing access to credit. As they do so, middle market businesses are turning to a host of large national, regional banks and smaller institutions “perceived” as survivors. One reason: Regional banks are improving the quality of service they deliver to business clients — an achievement that helped this banking group to dominate the 2008 Greenwich Excellence Awards for Middle Market Banking.
“In recent years, smaller regional and community banks emerged as a serious competitive threat to big banks by delivering commercial banking clients service quality that was truly superior and distinctive,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Chris McDonnell. “But the nation’s larger regional providers have responded to that threat by devoting the resources required to significantly improve their own customer experience.”
The results of Greenwich Associates’ 2008 Middle Market Banking Study reveal that mid-size businesses give strong service quality ratings to banks like Wachovia, M&I, Bank of the West, BB&T, and Zions Bancorp including their affiliate banks. Improvements in service quality seem to be paying off in today’s difficult market environment. “As middle market businesses add new banking relationships in an effort to ensure an uninterrupted flow of reasonably priced credit, they are seeking out institutions that they see as offering more stability,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Pete Garrison.
As Greenwich Associates consultant Don Raftery explains, “In the past, businesses might have shied away from some of the large banks based on past negative experiences. But now that many of these larger banks have raised their service quality and offer a sense of security, they have once again become an attractive option.”
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