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The U.S. Retail Bank Index

by

JG Wentworth

June 20, 2025

16 min

According to a study by ABA Banking Journal, three in four Americans only have some or little confidence in their banks. [1] Having a good relationship with your bank, knowing your money is safe, trusting their financial advice, and knowing that you can promptly receive support when needed, is vital.

To find out which U.S. banks have the most satisfied customers, the study analyzed 75,478 customer reviews of 108 of the most popular brick-and-mortar and online-only banks in the U.S. The study used 122 keywords (words or phrases) related to positive and negative experiences to find the percentage of reviews that indicated a bad customer experience, and the percentage that indicated a positive one. Examples of words used in the study include ‘friendly’ or ‘difficult’, but false positives and false negatives (e.g., ‘not friendly’ or ‘not difficult’) were also taken into consideration.

Key findings

  • Webster Bank is the U.S. bank with the worst customer experience (55.9% of reviews analyzed were negative).
  • TD Bank (53.1%) and Synchrony Bank (52.3%) are the U.S.’s next two most complained-about banks.
  • TD Bank (53.1% negative reviews), Truist Bank (50.5%), and Citibank (43.9%) are the nation’s worst large banks.
  • PlainsCapital Bank is the rudest bank in the U.S. (26.1% of reviews mention rudeness)
  • TowneBank is the U.S. bank with the best customer experience (93% of reviews are positive).
  • First Commonwealth Bank (87.9%) and Pacific Premier Bank (87%) are the banks with the second and third-best customer service.

How the largest American banks performed

It’s estimated that the top five banks in the U.S. control around 41.2% of the domestic market in terms of assets. [2] But is bigger necessarily better for consumers? On average, considering the largest 10 banks analyzed, these banks received an average of 37.5% positive reviews and 39.4% negative reviews. In comparison, the study average was 55.4% positive reviews and 26.2% negative reviews. This indicates that those banking with smaller businesses were more likely to be satisfied.

Considering the percentage of negative reviews, TD Bank (53.1%), Truist Bank (50.5%), and Citibank (43.9%) are the nation’s worst large banks to bank with. On the other hand, State Street (56.7%), PNC Bank (43.2%), and U.S. Bank (41.9%) had the highest percentage of positive reviews.

One recent scandal that involved three of the largest U.S. banks is the “Zelle” controversy. [3] The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo Bank after customers of these banks lost more than $870 million in seven years using their co-owned service Zelle.

Performance of the largest U.S. retail banks (by consolidated assets)*
SizeMain bank nameConsolidated Assets (Mil $)% of positive reviews% of negative reviews
1JPMorgan Chase3,643,09938.1%32.1%
2Bank of America2,615,29629.1%33.3%
3Citibank1,760,92129.1%43.9%
4Wells Fargo Bank1,711,02830.7%41.1%
5U.S. Bank659,19141.9%40.6%
6PNC Bank549,32443.2%36.0%
7Truist Bank527,48828.8%50.5%
8Capital One490,57337.8%40.0%
9State Street368,21956.7%23.1%
10TD Bank366,50729.0%53.1%

*One review may have both positive and negative keywords. Some reviews may not contain any of the keywords considered and are not counted. Therefore, positive and negative reviews may sum to greater or less than 100%.

The worst banks in the U.S.

The study considered 108 of the largest banks in the U.S., not just the major players. Considering all of the banks in the study, the top 10 banks with the highest percentage of negative reviews are listed below.

The top 10 most negatively reviewed U.S. banks
RankBank nameNegative keywords in reviews %
1Webster Bank 55.9%
2TD Bank53.1%
3Synchrony Bank52.3%
4Ally Bank50.9%
5Truist Bank50.5%
6HSBC Bank USA49.0%
7Discover45.2%
8Citibank43.9%
9KeyBank42.5%
10Huntington Bank42.5%

The top five worst U.S. banks for customer service

1. Webster Bank: 55.9% of reviews are negative

Considering all of the 61 negative keywords in the study, Webster Bank – which has 177 branches across the Northeast of the country – came out worst. [4] Over half (55.9%) of reviews featured negative content, which is more than double the study average of 26.4%. The most common words to appear in a negative review for this bank were ‘worst’ (20.9%), ‘rude’ (12.8%), and ‘bad’ (10.8%).

One scathing review from a customer using a branch in Connecticut reads, “My suggestion: Don’t get into a customer service business if you aren’t serving your customers […] I will make sure to spread the word how awful this bank is to prevent everyone I know from even wasting one minute of their time.”

Another reviewer from New York writes, “For the love of banking, stay far away from this terrible bank. From day one, they placed obstacles in my way to conduct the simplest of banking activities. Fre[d] Flins[t]one’s banking system was more modern than Websters.”

2. TD Bank: 53.1% of reviews are negative

Not far behind is TD Bank, with 53.1% of all reviews showing negative sentiment. TD Bank is another primarily eastern-based bank, and currently has its headquarters in New Jersey. Despite being the 10th largest bank in the United States (by total assets), its customer service was found sorely lacking. [5] The most frequently found keywords in negative feedback were ‘worst’ (23.8%), ‘bad’ (12.2%), and ‘slow’ (11.7%). TD Bank was the third ‘slowest’ in the study (behind Arvest Bank (14.2%) and Bank 5 Connect (11.7%)

After months trying to get a title for a TD auto loan, one unhappy customer in New York State writes, “Call me if you truly care. Meanwhile, I’ll be spending my time venting to anyone and everyone about this horrendous experience.”

Other reviewers complain about unexpectedly high fees. In May 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed against the bank over ‘illegal’ paper statement fees, due to concerns that it unfairly impacts those without internet access, or who are not confident using digital services. [6]

3. Synchrony Bank: 52.3% of reviews are negative

Synchrony Bank – an online-only bank founded in 2003 – is the third worst-performing bank in the study with a negative score of 52.3%. What makes Synchrony Bank customers so unhappy? The three keywords that appeared more than any others were ‘worst’ (23.2%), ‘horrible’ (12.2%), and ‘terrible’ (10%).

Some snippets from the review section include one woman from Arkansas saying she “wouldn’t recommend this so-called bank to my worst enemy!!!!” and another from San Francisco warns readers, “This is a bank that steals people’s money; don’t use them.”

4. Ally Bank: 50.9% of reviews are negative

Despite its name, customers of Ally Bank are the fourth most likely to feel let down. Half (50.9%) of reviews for one of the largest car finance companies in the U.S. are critical of their customer experience. When looking at the negative reviews for Ally Bank, you are most likely to see the words ‘worst’ (16.7%), ‘bad’ (10.3%), and ‘horrible’ (9.8%).

Detailing an “ugly” experience with the company, one reviewer was suspicious when he “set up a bill payment on the Wells Fargo Bank loan for $50,000 (yes, fifty thousand)” and it didn’t show up for weeks. After learning that Ally Bank mailed the payment in the post, and it was presumed lost, Ally Bank tried to stop the payment from going through but failed, due to a “typo”. This left this customer with a “FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLAR HOT CHECK”.

Another commenter from New York bluntly states, “If I could have any superpower, it would be to slap Ally Bank’s face from anywhere in the world at any time”.

5. Truist Bank: 50.5% of reviews are negative

Truist Bank is the final bank in the list where half or more customer reviews were negative (50.5%). ‘Worst’ (20%), ‘horrible’ (11.6%), and ‘rude’ (10.7%) were the words that most frequently appeared in negative reviews for this bank, which is a 2019 product of a merger between BB&T Corporation and SunTrust Banks. [7]

In 2023, Truist Bank suffered a large-scale data breach of employee and customer information. [8] In 2025, customers are still finding their sensitive information highly vulnerable to fraud. One reviewer from South Carolina writes, “I literally had my account open for two months and had my account breached 4 times […] my name, email address, home address, and DOB had been found on the dark web through the same email address associated with Truist.”

The most common negative words/phrases in reviews

On average, one in four (26.2%) reviews analyzed had something bad to say about their customer service experience. And the figures were pretty similar for both online (25%) and traditional banks (26.4%).

The most common word found in a negative review was ‘worst’ (found in 16.8% of complaints). Customers of BMO Bank were the most likely to review their experience of the Illinois-based bank as the ‘worst’ (25.7%).

It’s not just the quality of the service that unhappy customers complain about, but the attitude of bank staff too. One in three (13%) complained about a ‘rude’ experience – and the rudest employees, according to reviews, work for PlainsCapital Bank (26.1% of negative reviews for this bank refer to ‘rude’ treatment).

The third most common word found in negative reviews was simply ‘bad’ (10.2%). Cathay Bank is the worst of them all, with 19.7% of reviews mentioning a ‘bad’ experience.

The top 10 most common negative words/phrases in reviews
RankWord or phrase% of occurrence in all negative reviewsBank with the greatest % of this word% of occurrence in negative reviews
1worst16.8%BMO Bank25.7%
2rude13%PlainsCapital Bank 26.1%
3bad10.2%Cathay Bank19.7%
4horrible9.7%​Dime Community Bank19.5%
5terrible8.2%​Woodforest National Bank16.7%
6slow5.3%Arvest Bank14.2%
7unprofessional4.7%Bank of Hope11.5%
8disappoint*3.9%Pacific Premier Bank20.0%
9worse2.7%Banc of California6.5%
10on hold2.4%Bank of Hawaii8.6%

The best banks in the U.S. for customer service

The top 10 most positively reviewed U.S. banks
RankBank % of positive reviews
1TowneBank93.0%
2First Commonwealth Bank87.9%
3Pacific Premier Bank87.0%
4Centier Bank84.0%
5Central Bank83.8%
6First United Bank & Trust Company81.5%
7Tri City Bank80.1%
8Sandy Spring Bank78.7%
9OceanFirst Bank78.6%
10Washington Federal Bank78.6%

The top five U.S. banks for customer service

1. TowneBank: 93% of reviews are positive

TowneBank may only have 44 branches across Virginia and North Carolina, but this relatively small bank considerably outpaced its larger competitors when it came to customer service. [9] An impressive 93% of all reviews for TowneBank had something nice to say about their experience dealing with the bank. 17.9% of positive reviews mentioned that they would ‘recommend’ the bank, 10.8% said the service was ‘great’, and 8.7% described the staff as ‘knowledgeable’ (the three top appearing words for the bank overall).

The small-town, local feel of the bank comes across in reviews. One Virginian customer writes, “TowneBank at the New Town branch location lives up to its name of being a hometown bank. The staff at this branch provide exceptional personalized customer service”. On a similar note, another satisfied Virginian customer writes, “It is so important to support these smaller banks in order to keep things fair for us consumers”.

2. First Commonwealth Bank: 87.9% of reviews are positive

First Commonwealth Bank serves Pennsylvania and Ohio, and claims on its website to be ‘big enough to deliver all of the services of a large bank, yet small enough to allow for one-on-one, know-you-by-name relationships with our customers.’ [10] The company must be doing something right because 87.9% of reviews for the bank had something positive to say about their experience.

The same as TowneBank, the most frequently seen positive words in reviews were ‘recommend’ (22.6%), ‘great’ (11.1%), and ‘knowledgeable’ (6.4%).

Also like TowneBank, customers appreciated the local feel of the bank and placed a lot of trust in the bank. “[They] have modern banking functionality with a small community feel…best of both worlds,” one reviewer writes. “I feel so safe with my finances here,” reads another five-star review.

3. Pacific Premier Bank: 87% of reviews are positive

The California-founded Pacific Premier Bank was found to be the 3rd best U.S. bank for customer service, with a positive review score of 87%. Pacific Premier Bank has already achieved some impressive accolades, including being ranked Top Public U.S. Bank by S&P Global Market Intelligence in 2022. [11]

The most frequent positive words and phrases for this bank differed from the two previous banks, but were more reflective of the study norm. The most commonly seen words were ‘friendly’ (12.7%), ‘great’ (11.3%), and ‘helpful’ (10.5%).

The exceptional in-person service shines through in reviews. One glowing review reads, “This bank provides the best customer service I have ever received. Part of their hiring process must be to test for service.” Another recommends the bank to “anyone looking for a bank that really cares about their customers”.

4. Centier Bank: 84% of reviews are positive

Of all reviews analyzed, 84% of reviews for Centier Bank had something positive to say about their experience banking with this Indiana family business. ‘Friendly’ (15.5%), ‘helpful’ (14.1%), and ‘great’ (13.9%) were the most commonly seen words in reviews for this bank too.

Again, bigger isn’t always better. Customers valued the familiarity and attention provided by this local bank. As one Indianan review states: “Small, friendly and family oriented banking. My best banking experience. You recognize the quality of customer service when an issue has occurred. When you need quality service, it’s there”.

5. Central Bank: 84% of reviews are positive

Completing the top five best U.S. banks for customer service is Central Bank. Central Bank has 158 locations across Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, and Oklahoma and an impressive 83.8% of all reviews contained positive keywords. [12] The top three words found in positive reviews for the bank were ‘great’ (13.9%), ‘helpful’ (13.2%), and ‘friendly’ (11%).

Looking closely at the reviews, Central Bank appears to particularly excel at its mortgage loans. One of the many reviews about a positive mortgage-loan experience writes, “I never thought I would call the mortgage process easy and enjoyable […] From the first disclosure to the last drop of ink on the final closing documents, we were informed and expertly guided”.

The exceptional service leaves even long-standing customers impressed. “I have banked at Central Bank of Midwest for over 40 years, but yesterday their customer service was more outstanding than ever!” writes one happy customer from Kansas.

The most common positive words/phrases in reviews

The good news is that you are twice as likely to have something positive (55.4%) rather than negative (26.2%) to write about when reviewing one of the 108 popular U.S. banks in the study. Again, the difference is slight comparing online bank reviews (55.8% positive) and traditional banks (55.3%).

The most commonly found keywords in positive reviews were ‘great’ (13.1%), ‘friendly’ (10.6%), and ‘helpful’ (10.4%) – demonstrating that the attitude of staff towards customers makes a significant difference.

The top 10 most common positive words/phrases in reviews
RankWord or phrase% of occurrence in all positive reviewsBank with the greatest % of this word% of occurrence in positive reviews
1great13.1%First Interstate Bank19.9%
2friendly10.6%Glacier Bank12.1%
3helpful10.4%Ameris Bank16.2%
4recommend6.9%First Commonwealth Bank22.6%
5good6.9%Synchrony Bank16.9%
6best6.0%Citizens Business Bank10.3%
7love5.4%Chime Financial, Inc.25.7%*
8professional4.8%Popular Bank8.2%
9care4.5%Synchrony Bank18.6%
10excellent3.3%Amerant Bank8.8%

*Chime Financial, Inc. has the phrase “the #1 Most Loved Banking App” as its trademark.[13]

Methodology

We collected 75,478 online reviews in May 2025 regarding the most popular retail banks in the U.S., according to the Federal Reserve and popular online-only banks suggested by Google. This came to 108 retail banks overall.

To analyze which banks were the best and worst for customer service, we looked at the occurrence of a set list of 122 keywords (61 positive and 61 negative). The study discounted false positives and false negatives (e.g., ‘not bad’ or ‘not great’). The analysis also accounted for misspellings and conjugations.

One review may count as both a positive and a negative review. For example, a review saying “I was left on hold for an hour, but once I did get through to a member of staff, they were very helpful” contains the words ‘on-hold’ (a negative phrase indicator) and ‘helpful’. This is why the percentage of negative reviews and the percentage of positive reviews can total more than 100%.

On the other hand, some reviews may not contain any of the keywords in the study, meaning they were discounted from the analysis. This means that some positive and negative percentage scores will add up to more (or less) than 100%.

Complete results: banks A-Z
Bank Bank type% of positive reviews% of negative reviews
Ally BankOnline bank50.2%50.9%
Amerant BankTraditional bank45.5%12.5%
Ameris BankTraditional bank78.1%7.0%
Arvest BankTraditional bank46.6%32.9%
Associated BankTraditional bank54.9%27.8%
Atlantic Union BankTraditional bank57.6%23.5%
Axos BankOnline bank52.8%41.0%
Banc of CaliforniaTraditional bank62.8%18.1%
BancFirstTraditional bank61.1%22.6%
Bank 5 ConnectOnline bank69.2%7.9%
Bank of AmericaTraditional bank29.1%33.3%
Bank of HawaiiTraditional bank47.7%31.5%
Bank of HopeTraditional bank36.5%32.4%
Bank OZKTraditional bank63.3%20.8%
BankUnitedTraditional bank49.3%30.4%
Banner BankTraditional bank64.9%20.5%
Bell BankTraditional bank70.8%12.4%
Berkshire BankTraditional bank45.2%30.4%
BMO BankTraditional bank35.0%41.9%
BOKF, National AssociationTraditional bank66.6%16.1%
Bremer BankTraditional bank56.2%21.0%
Busey BankTraditional bank62.3%21.5%
Cadence BankTraditional bank50.5%30.3%
Capital OneTraditional bank37.8%40.0%
Cathay BankTraditional bank41.5%28.8%
Centennial BankTraditional bank59.8%25.0%
Centier BankTraditional bank84.0%3.8%
Central BankTraditional bank83.8%7.0%
Chime Financial, Inc.Online bank64.5%13.1%
CitibankTraditional bank29.1%43.9%
Citizens BankTraditional bank45.6%37.1%
Citizens Business BankTraditional bank45.3%35.3%
City National BankTraditional bank67.9%17.6%
City National Bank of FloridaTraditional bank39.9%38.2%
Comerica BankTraditional bank46.8%32.1%
Commerce BankTraditional bank51.9%30.0%
Community BankTraditional bank57.9%22.7%
Dime Community BankTraditional bank59.3%29.7%
DiscoverOnline bank42.7%45.2%
East West BankTraditional bank51.8%23.8%
Eastern BankTraditional bank55.4%26.8%
Enterprise Bank & TrustTraditional bank67.9%3.9%
Farmers & Merchants BankTraditional bank67.7%15.9%
Fifth Third BankTraditional bank36.9%41.8%
First BankTraditional bank67.6%22.1%
First Commonwealth BankTraditional bank87.9%13.7%
First Financial BankTraditional bank67.2%18.6%
First Hawaiian BankTraditional bank43.5%33.8%
First Horizon BankTraditional bank60.8%25.2%
First Interstate BankTraditional bank59.1%27.5%
First Merchants BankTraditional bank63.1%21.1%
First National BankTraditional bank44.54%40.38%
First United Bank & Trust CompanyTraditional bank81.5%12.7%
First-Citizens BankTraditional bank56.5%32.0%
Flagstar BankTraditional bank55.5%30.4%
Frost BankTraditional bank56.7%23.4%
Fulton BankTraditional bank51.6%31.5%
Glacier BankTraditional bank57.1%20.5%
Hancock Whitney BankTraditional bank50.5%30.0%
HSBC Bank USATraditional bank30.6%49.0%
Huntington BankTraditional bank38.1%42.5%
Independent FinancialTraditional bank62.4%27.6%
JPMorgan ChaseTraditional bank38.1%32.1%
KeyBankTraditional bank39.5%42.5%
M&T BankTraditional bank41.9%41.6%
Mechanics BankTraditional bank48.3%36.5%
NBT BankTraditional bank59.8%23.2%
OceanFirst BankTraditional bank78.6%9.7%
Old National BankTraditional bank49.2%33.9%
Pacific Premier BankTraditional bank87.0%4.4%
Park National BankTraditional bank55.3%23.9%
Pinnacle BankTraditional bank63.0%18.0%
PlainsCapital Bank Traditional bank58.4%17.6%
PNC BankTraditional bank43.2%36.0%
Popular BankTraditional bank37.1%30.0%
Prosperity BankTraditional bank54.8%32.5%
QuonticOnline bank65.3%15.4%
Regions BankTraditional bank40.6%25.0%
Renasant BankTraditional bank62.0%24.8%
RevolutOnline bank39.7%1.8%
Rockland TrustTraditional bank65.6%21.2%
Sandy Spring BankTraditional bank78.7%18.4%
Santander BankTraditional bank44.3%39.4%
Seacoast National BankTraditional bank62.7%24.0%
Simmons BankTraditional bank51.0%28.8%
SoFiOnline bank68.1%12.8%
SouthState BankTraditional bank58.0%23.1%
State StreetTraditional bank56.7%23.1%
Synchrony BankOnline bank43.0%52.3%
Synovus BankTraditional bank56.2%25.8%
TD BankTraditional bank29.0%53.1%
TowneBankTraditional bank93.0%9.9%
Tri City BankTraditional bank80.1%10.7%
Truist BankTraditional bank28.8%50.5%
Trustmark BankTraditional bank60.6%22.4%
U.S. BankTraditional bank41.9%40.6%
UMB BankTraditional bank60.3%13.4%
Umpqua BankTraditional bank55.3%28.6%
United BankTraditional bank64.1%16.1%
United Community BankTraditional bank73.6%12.2%
Valley National BankTraditional bank57.7%22.9%
Varo BankOnline bank62.3%9.9%
Washington Federal BankTraditional bank78.6%6.7%
Webster BankTraditional bank33.1%55.9%
Webster BankTraditional bank30.7%41.1%
Wells Fargo BankTraditional bank56.9%25.8%
Woodforest National BankTraditional bank58.1%3.5%
Zions BankTraditional bank43.5%41.8%

Sources

[1] ABA Banking Journal, ‘Survey: U.S. public confidence remains low for banks, other institutions‘, 2024

[2] Insider Money, “20 Largest Banks in the US by Customers”, 2024

[3] NPR, “CFPB alleges 3 banks failed to protect consumers from Zelle fraud”, 2024

[4] Webster Bank, ‘About Us

[5] EMARKETER,’ Top 10 biggest US banks by assets: Data drop‘, 2025

[6] Top Class Action, “TD Bank hit with class action lawsuit over ‘illegal’ paper statement fees”, 2025

[7] Truist Financial, “BB&T, and SunTrust complete merger of equals to become Truist“, 2019

[8] StrongDM, “Truist Data Breach: What Happened and How to Prevent It”, 2025

[9] TowneBank, ‘Discover more about TowneBank

[10 ]First Commonwealth Bank, ‘https://www.fcbanking.com/why-us/

[11] Pacific Premier Bank, ‘About Us

[12] Central Bank, “Central Bancompany

About us

With over 30 years’ worth of experience, JG Wentworth is an American financial services company that specializes in structured settlements, annuity purchases, debt relief solutions, and other offerings. JG Wentworth has helped resolve over 2.9 billion debts and 4 billion structured payouts.

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