Canadians less satisfied with their banks this year, survey finds

TORONTO – An annual poll of Canadian attitudes about banks suggests more people are dissatisfied, at least partly due to the rising fees they’re being charged.

The survey from J.D. Power and Associates found that the percentage of customers who say they will “definitely” reuse their bank in the future, declined by four percentage points since a year ago.

And the number of respondents who said they would “definitely” recommend their bank dropped five percentage points from last year.

At least part of the rising discontent was tied to a greater number of customers who have been slapped with higher fees, with 27 per cent of respondents saying their charges went up this year, compared with 17 per cent in 2011.

Many of the respondents said they had a lower overall opinion of the banks as reliable and financially stable.

The J.D. Power survey covered the Big Five Canadian banks — Royal Bank (TSX:RY), Scotiabank (TSX:BNS), CIBC (TSX:CM), Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) and TD Bank (TSX:TD) — as well as what it called midsize banks.