If you're a Bay Area bank, you might be reasonably happy. If you're a national bank that does a lot of business here, well, not so much.
This we conclude from J.D. Power & Associates 2011 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, which ranks customer happiness, and unhappiness, with the nation's large and midsize banks.
While only one California bank - Rabobank, a community bank serving nonmetropolitan areas of the state - is rated "among the best," San Francisco's Wells Fargo, Union Bank and Bank of the West are considered "better than most." Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank does well, but Citibank is merely "about average," while Chase ranked lower, and Bank of America was at the bottom 0f the California heap.
The rankings, released last week, are based on a nationwide survey of 52,000 customers of banks with at least $2 billion in deposits and 50 branches. Overall, "consumer sentiment toward retail banks appears to have reversed its historical downward slide ... for the first time since 2007," says the study. (sfg.ly/dHv6Uq).
However, Bay Area consumers appeared to be less impressed than the rest of the nation, said Michael Beird, director of banking services at J.D. Powers. "Californians ranked their banks lower than the nation overall, and the Bay Area ranked them even lower than that," said Beird.
Sticking particularly in customers' craw are high and ever-changing fees, slowness of processing transactions, and "in-person interaction," said Beird. "Banks still have a lot of challenges. The main question they need to ask themselves is, does your customer feel valued?"
-- Yes, we value them, said Wells Fargo, responding to the survey.
"We continue to work and measure customer service internally to understand how we can do an even better job of meeting and exceeding the needs of all of our customers," said spokeswoman Diana Rodriguez.
"We remain committed to putting our customers at the center of everything we do."
Very worthy customers: Quite by chance we received an announcement from Chase that it is committing approximately $2 billion in small business loans to California this year, on top of the more than $2 billion it lent to 44,000 small businesses in the state last year.
Chase should know more where it stands in that respect in the fall, when J.D. Power comes out with its small business banking customer survey.
In the meantime, Chase is moving further up the value chain with the opening of a private banking office in Palo Alto, serving "high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients throughout Silicon Valley and surrounding communities."
We trust the clients will be adequately served.
Reversal of fortune: Did pigs just fly?
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says the oil depletion allowance is "certainly something we should be looking at.
"We're in a time when the federal government's short on revenues," he told ABC News the other day. "I don't think the big oil companies need to have the oil depletion allowances.
"They ought to be paying their fair share."
Seeing as the allowances are worth billions to oil companies, we contacted America's second largest, San Ramon's Chevron Corp., for a response.
A spokesman there referred me to the American Petroleum Institute, the industry's chief lobbying group. The institute, in turn, sent me a statement from its chief economist, referring not directly to Boehner's comments, but to similar proposals offered by President Obama, the latest in a letter to congressional leaders on Tuesday.
"This is a proposal borne of desperation that would do nothing to reduce gasoline prices," said the economist, John Felmy. "It would reduce investment in new oil and natural gas projects, cost new jobs and decrease oil and natural gas production.
"Congress has rejected this approach before because this bad policy ... could ultimately reduce revenue to the government."
We presume the statement reflects Chevron's position. Whether the company picks up the lobbying cudgels itself, or has the API take the lead role, remains to be seen.
-- When the British government raised taxes on North Sea oil and gas production, as part of its deficit reduction drive, Chevron CEO John Watson came out swinging, warning of "unintended consequences in terms of where we choose to invest."
He was referring specifically to Chevron's planned $7.5 billion investment in an oil field off the north coast of Scotland.
"Chevron produces oil and gas in 26 different countries. ... We choose venues that have the right geologic and fiscal terms," he told the Financial Times. While it's "early days" to consider canceling the investment, "it was very disappointing to see the tax hike."
So far, the British government has stood firm in the face of pressure from Chevron, and other oil companies operating in the region. So far.
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