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THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
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County close-up: Plymouth Spotlight: Plympton
IN PERSON
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When Christine Roberts found out that her parents could not pay for her senior year of college, she turned to a local bank for a last-minute loan. This experience inspired her to want to work someday in student lending, a goal reached four years ago when she became head of Citizens Bank’s student lending group.
WEEK OF MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020
BANKING & LENDING BY THE NUMBERS
27 percent The share of Massachusetts bank customers upset at poor customer service. See Diane McLaughlin’s story on this page. Source: Rivel Banking Benchmarks
3 The number of Rockland Trust branches that could open in Worcester in 2020. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Rockland Trust
6.25 percent Coastal Heritage Bank controls 6.25 percent of the Plymouth County residential mortgage market. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Marketshare Module
13 percent The share of Massachusetts bank customers upset at poor bank technology. See Diane McLaughlin’s story on this page. Source: Rivel Banking Benchmarks
26.2 miles Managing a merger is like running a marathon. See Howard Berkenblit’s column on page 5. Source: Howard Berkenbilt
2 Bridgewater Savings Bank employs the second-most productive loan originator in Plymouth County, See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Loan Originator Module
29 Twenty-nine local banks have lost customers due to poor customer service. See Diane McLaughlin’s story on this page. Source: Rivel Banking Benchmarks
SERVICE WITH NO SMILE
SURVEY FINDS
POOR SERVICE THE BIGGEST THREAT TO
BANKS’ CUSTOMER BASES Customers who call their bank to get its routing number may also need another service, like a balance transfer.
More Bay Staters Frustrated by Service than Technology BY DIANE MCLAUGHLIN BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
B
anks and credit unions trying to attract and retain new customers frequently worry about their technological capabilities, but a new survey suggests poor customer service is over three times as frustrating to their clients as poor technology Recent results from the Rivel Banking Benchmarks survey show that getting the runaround from bank staff and poorly
trained staff are top frustrations for banking customers “One of the primary focuses of the bank is state-of-the-art technology,” said Kim Rock, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Institution for Savings in Newburyport. “But the belief of [this] bank has always been and will always be that personal service will make us or break us.”
Bad Service Drove Customers Away
More than one-quarter of Massachusetts households reported being dissatisfied with their bank, according the Rivel Banking Benchmarks, which interviewed over 10,000 bank and credit union customers across Massachusetts. The results
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Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit
as of January 2020 showed that 27 percent of households and 31 percent of all businesses in Massachusetts are unhappy with their bank. But reactions do vary across the state, Rivel managing director Bruce Paul said in an email. North Shore residents reported being happier with their banks compared to those on the South Shore. In Suffolk County, businesses are almost 50 percent more likely to leave their bank than those in western Massachusetts. “This has less to do with cultural differences and more to do with the relative performance of the individual banks and credit unions in each area,” Paul said.
P AT H O G E N P R E V E N T I O N
WeWork, Wayfair Could Be Redesigning Buildings Vectors for Coronavirusto Halt Sickness’ Spread Architects Offer Communicable Caused Office Slump Disease Prevention Strategies Downtown’s Tech-Dominated Office Landlords Exposed to Risk as Markets Wobble
By Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
Continued on Page 9
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 3
Banking & Lending PAGE 7