It Pays to be Liked

Recently we announced the winners of Ipsos' 2015 Best Banking Awards, an annual awards program which recognizes Canadian financial institutions with the top ranked customer service for personal banking experience based on various key performance indicators.

Established in 1987, the Customer Service Index (CSI) quarterly survey generates the winners of the annual Best Banking Awards. This year's Awards were based on the combined results of 45,391 completed surveys for the 2015 CSI program year ending with the August 2015 survey wave, received from a demographically and regionally representative sample of Canadians. The awards were presented across 13 categories.

Customer expectations and technology are changing faster than ever before, yet our financial institutions have continued to impress by being able to maintain high levels of customer service across all points of interaction. This is no easy feat as competition to retain existing customers and attract new ones remains intense. As a result financial institutions need to continue to deliver high levels of customer service and leverage the latest technologies, including the convenience of banking by mobile device and now smartwatch.

The overall Customer Service Excellence award for 2015 among all financial institutions in the retail banking sector goes to Canada's Credit Unions, an aggregate of individual Credit Unions across the country. This is the eleventh consecutive year that Canada's Credit Unions have received the award, and this year they also received a record high of nine awards. This year was Tangerine's seventh consecutive solo win for Products & Services Excellence, while National Bank received a record four shared awards.

TD Canada Trust takes top honours among the Big Five Banks for Customer Service Excellence for the eleventh year in a row. In addition, Scotiabank received eight awards and CIBC won six, which marks the most ever in both cases.

Ipsos Best Banking Award Recipients for 2015 among All Financial Institutions

• Customer Service Excellence: Credit Unions
• Value for Money: Tangerine, President's Choice Financial
• Values My Business: Credit Unions
• Recommend to Friends or Family: Tangerine
• Interest Rates & Service Charges: Tangerine
• Products & Services Excellence: Credit Unions, Tangerine, President's Choice Financial
• Financial Planning & Advice: BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Credit Unions
• Branch Service Excellence: Credit Unions
• ATM Banking Excellence: Credit Unions, Desjardins, National Bank
• Online Banking Excellence: Credit Unions, Desjardins, National Bank, Tangerine
• Mobile Banking Excellence: CIBC, National Bank, Scotiabank, Tangerine
• Automated Telephone Banking Excellence: BMO Bank of Montreal, Credit Unions, Desjardins, National Bank
• Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence: Credit Unions, Desjardins

Ipsos Best Banking Award Recipients for 2015 among the Big Five Banks

• Customer Service Excellence: TD Canada Trust
• Value for Money: Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• Values My Business: CIBC, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• Recommend to Friends or Family: TD Canada Trust
• Interest Rates & Service Charges: BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotiabank
• Products & Services Excellence: CIBC, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• Financial Planning & Advice: BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, RBC Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust
• Branch Service Excellence: Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• ATM Banking Excellence: TD Canada Trust
• Online Banking Excellence: CIBC, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• Mobile Banking Excellence: CIBC, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust
• Automated Telephone Banking Excellence: BMO Bank of Montreal, RBC Royal Bank
• Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence: BMO Bank of Montreal, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank

For more details including the methodology used for this study, please visit our press center.