July 2014

What was interesting to watch in subsequent years was the way nuance returned to the marketplace, as indiscriminate resentment toward banks gave way to more considered views. Each year, one or two institutions would pull away from the pack, proving it was possible to make reputation a positive point of differentiation even as the industry as a whole continued to be viewed more skeptically than just about any other sector of the economy.

So its notable this year that bank reputations once again seem to be moving in lockstep. Only this time, theyre marching in a far more favorable direction.

There are still winners and losers that stand out, particularly when you ask people about the

institutions they directly do business with. But its telling that with noncustomers, a tougher crowd by far, every one of the 25 large retail bank brands in this years American Banker/Reputation Institute study fared better than last year. And a dozen brands improved their standing enough to move out of the zone where their scores indicate a weak or vulnerable reputation.

When evaluated by their own customers, 18 of the 25 bank brands on this years survey garner scores of 70 or higher on our 100-point scale, indicating strong or robust reputations. And one institution, BBVA Compass, came within two points of achieving a top-tier score of 80 or higher, territory no bank has seen since our survey started in 2010.

WHEN WE BEGAN our annual survey of bank reputations five years ago, we knew wed see signs of a sector in crisis, and not just a financial one. Banks of all sizes and in all geographies were reeling from a widespread breakdown in customer trust.

IN GEARGETTIN

GAMERICAN BANKER/REPUTATION INSTITUTE 2014 SURVEY OF BANK REPUT

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2014 2013 Change

1 BBVA Compass 78.90 66.63 12.27

2 Union Bank 77.41 78.15 -0.73

3 PNC 76.89 69.75 7.14

4 Ally Bank 76.51 77.10 -0.59

5 Comerica 76.13 69.16 6.97

6 Regions Financial 75.99 69.24 6.74

7 Huntington Bank 75.39 70.71 4.68

8 KeyBank 75.33 70.48 4.85

9 TD Bank 73.44 74.16 -0.72

10 Bank of the West 72.87 74.40 -1.54

11 First Niagara 72.71 66.58 6.14

12 SunTrust Banks 71.97 76.20 -4.23

13 BB&T 71.70 72.57 -0.87

14 Citizens Bank 71.44 69.61 1.83

15 US Bank 71.34 72.14 -0.80

16 Capital One 71.11 64.44 6.67

17 Wells Fargo 70.69 55.75 14.94

18 M&T Bank 70.39 67.67 2.71

19 Citibank 69.65 63.25 6.39

20 Santander 69.05 66.22 2.83

21 BMO Harris Bank 68.55 74.77 -6.22

22 Chase 68.06 67.53 0.53

23 Fifth Third Bank 64.88 69.92 -5.04

24 Bank of America 60.08 52.55 7.53

25 HSBC 58.43 56.76 1.67

RANKINGS BASED ON CUSTOMER SCORES

Source: American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey of Bank Reputations, 2014

Excellent/Top Tier Above 80Strong/Robust 70-79Average/Moderate 60-69Weak/Vulnerable 40-59Poor/Bottom Tier Below 40

RANKINGS BASED ON NONCUSTOMER SCORES

Source: American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey of Bank Reputations, 2014

Excellent/Top Tier Above 80Strong/Robust 70-79Average/Moderate 60-69Weak/Vulnerable 40-59Poor/Bottom Tier Below 40

2014 2013 Change

1 Huntington Bank 63.83 61.10 2.73

2 TD Bank 62.24 59.17 3.07

3 Bank of the West 61.73 57.97 3.77

4 Comerica 61.56 58.83 2.73

5 PNC 61.42 55.58 5.84

6 Regions Financial 61.38 60.54 0.84

7 BMO Harris Bank 61.12 58.00 3.12

8 BB&T 60.83 56.97 3.85

9 Fifth Third Bank 60.45 57.04 3.42

10 Ally Bank 60.22 58.00 2.22

11 SunTrust Banks 60.21 57.01 3.20

12 BBVA Compass 60.18 59.50 0.67

13 First Niagara 60.02 58.49 1.54

14 Santander 60.01 56.48 3.53

15 US Bank 59.05 50.70 8.34

16 Union Bank 58.85 57.09 1.76

17 Citizens Bank 58.57 58.29 0.28

18 M&T Bank 58.20 56.05 2.15

19 KeyBank 58.06 55.61 2.45

20 Capital One 56.42 48.86 7.56

21 Chase 56.19 48.08 8.11

22 Citibank 54.88 42.38 12.49

23 HSBC 53.58 47.25 6.33

24 Wells Fargo 52.31 50.54 1.77

25 Bank of America 47.11 35.09 12.02

Consumer Products

Transport & Logistics

Industrial Products

Food - Manufacturing

Computer

Automotive

Retail - General

Pharmaceuticals

Retail - Food

Utilities

Financial - Insurance

Airlines & Aerospace

Financial - Bank

Telecommunications

Energy

Information & Media

Financial - Diversified

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How BAnkS FARE AGAInST oTHER InDUSTRIES Average reputation scores for 2014 vs. 2013w

EA

k >> SURVEY METHODOLOGY COMPANY SELECTION:

Companies were drawn from the Federal Reserves list of large commercial banks as of December 2013, with final selections determined by American Banker based on the amount of assets, the amount of deposits and the core business focus of each firm

Only companies with significant retail businesses and significant retail brands were considered

RATINGS: Ratings were collected via online questionnaire in January

and February 2014 Each respondent was familiar or somewhat familiar with the

company they rated All companies were rated by at least 100 noncustomers

and 100 customers

The No. 1 bank on our ranking this year is also one of the most improved. BBVA Compass, which didnt even make the top half in the 2013 ranking, boosted its reputation score more than 12 points with customers. With a score of 78.9 on our 100-point scale, the Spanish-owned southern regional edged out last years No. 1, Union Bank.

The increase is no aberration. Within the past year and a half, BBVA Compass has moved checking and savings accounts to a new technology platform that provides real-time processing and the full scope of each customers relationship with the bank. It has garnered attention for the sleek, new headquarters tower it opened last June in Houston, been active in social media and raised its profile with NBA basketball, MLS soccer and college football bowl game sponsorships.

The tone is set from the top, but CEO Manolo Snchez says reputation management is everybodys business at the bank whether they engage with customers directly, are charged with monitoring the landscape for risks or are responsible for crafting the brands message to the broader public.

How would you describe BBVA Compass general approach to brand reputation?Reputation is placed at the core of our business. Thats why were focused so much on it. We like to think of ourselves as a customer-centric company, with the other stakeholders in

our business, like the community and the shareholders and the employees, around that.

How is reputation management structured at BBVA Compass, and whos accountable for it?In theory you want everybody to own it, but we have strong leadership that steers our reputation management in the right direction. The doer part of it is the corporate responsibility and reputation [group] that Rey Ocaas heads. Then we have the enterprise risk management group, which looks at reputation risks. Both have important, senior roles within the organization. Then everybody else needs to own it, too, and one way weve been able to do that is by tying reputation to compensation. In our incentive plan, we have a way of attaching [those things]. Its nonnegotiable to really get reputational aspects into the compensation [formulas].

And what is the CEOs role in all this?I need to make sure Im setting the tone for the organization, leading by example. Ultimately when we look to the top of the organization, we want to see that the organization is walking the talk.

We have a number of internal mottoes or mantras that we use One of them is, We work for a better future for people. Its very inspiring but also somewhat limitless, and theres nothing about financial services in it. And we set it that way about a decade ago because we really wanted to see no limits. And the word people, its inclusive of everyone our clients, our employees, our communities. So were setting this aspiration in very broad terms and we have a culture that is articulated in ways that folks can get engaged around and comprehend the aspirations of the organization.

Notably, BBVA Compass is the only bank in our survey to place in the top five for each of the seven reputation drivers we study. Did you have specific aspects of reputation in mind when you were formulating your reputation strategy? Or did you purposefully aim to create a well-rounded profile?Theres been plenty of deliberate effort around our position. We have a five-year strategic plan, and when we set it out we made our best effort at hitting all of the vectors that will create, at the end of the day, the next great bank in the U.S. Its a multifaceted goal because banking is a complex business that touches a lot of folks.

EVERYBODY NEEDS TO OWN ITBBVA Compass CEO Manolo Snchez on reputation management

Our LEED-certified building in Houston, its open space, which is really a bold step in terms of promoting collaboration and more transparency. Theres [our sponsorship of] the NBA. There are the actions that weve taken, but also the telling of the action, and thats very much connected to todays world. In the age of social media, you really need to tell your story, and that ability to create more touch points to tell our story really helps to reinforce our brand and tell our clients what were doing.

When it comes to noncustomers, who as a group have much less esteem for banks, BBVA Compass gets middle-

of-the-pack scores, ranking 12 out of 25 on our survey. Do you worry as much about what your noncustomers think?

Definitely we worry about that, because those are our prospects, those are our future employees. And those are folks in our community were not touching. In our case, I think thats what the underlying gap is. Were delivering new solutions, we have actions in the community, but folks who are not our customers have limited exposure to that. Weve tried on Facebook, for example, a campaign where noncustomers could come and submit ideas. [But] we have to find a way to be more persuasive. H.L.

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