Article: Community banks use mystery shopping test: regionals banks, building societies and credit unions in Australia are studying a report which shows three out of four community banks in the US actively monitor customer service quality and nearly a quarter (22%) go so far as to employ "mystery shoppers". (News).

A joint community banking survey by the American Bankers Association and the ABA Banking Journal compiled the views of top management at 760 community banks across the country on topics ranging from customer service measurement, funding, technology expenditures, product offerings and hiring practices.

The average asset size of the sampled banks was $US178.8 million.

The survey finds that community banks are keeping pace with conveniences consumers are demanding while retaining key ingredients of personal service.

For example, 79% offer Saturday hours, 91% offer debit cards; 70% offer or plan to offer telephone banking and 65% offer or plan to ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!