I think we knew this already

JD Power and Associates have issued another Customer Satisfaction study and as I think we already knew, overall satisfaction for Retail banking is down. Outlined in this article on TheStreet.com it ties consumer confidence (think housing crisis) and an overall belt tightening at the banks to the drop. Money quote -

"Now is the time for banks to really differentiate themselves from competitors
by focusing on customer service and convenience," says Rockwell Clancy, J.D.
Power's executive director of financial services. "Banks with higher
levels of customer satisfaction will generate higher deposit growth and achieve
better financial results over the long term."

This is an opportunity (as the article / quote also states) for banks - and other companies - to differentiate themselves from the competition by investing in some key customer care areas to improve call answer times and reduce customer wait times.

If banks aren't already directing most of their clients to self serve options and light assist options through web and phone channels (as opposed to in person) they should be. By adding some cost effective staffing at call centres during peak hours - normally from the lunch hour to just after the supper hour - banks can provide better service for their customers.

Banks should also start to take better advantage of Voice over IP technology and implement work from home and work on demand strategies for call centre agents - who wants to come into the office for the afternoon only - to bump up their service levels at minimal costs.