Missouri Best, Nevada Worst in New Survey on U.S. Banking Conditions
A new MoneyRates.com study named Missouri and Kansas as the top two states for banking conditions. Kansas was cited for its broad range of banks and no failures within the past 12 months. With a total of more than 350 banks, Kansas reported no failures in 2013.
However, the state ranked outside the top 10 in terms of customer satisfaction. In order to determine the rankings, the study examined factors including competitive rates, quality of service, stability and breadth of choice. Missouri received favorable scores in each category.
Nevada finished last among the 50 states due to poor customer service satisfaction, a high rate of bank failures, and an overall low number of banks. The Nevada real estate market has been dealt some heavy blows over the last few years, which may have contributed to its poor ratings. Given the close relationship between the real estate market and the banking industry, it’s not unlikely that states with difficult real estate conditions would struggle in the rankings.
Massachusetts and California completed the top five. According to the study, the Midwestern states generally have solid customer-satisfaction scores and a healthy amount of competition. The central area of the United States received less of an impact from the housing bust, so fewer banks have gone under when compared with coastal states.
The worst states in the survey were Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, Washington and Connecticut. Arizona in particular was hurt by a trio of bank failures over the last 12 months.
In another component of the survey, Chase claimed the top spot among deposit leaders. U.S. Bank and Well Fargo finished with satisfactory marks, while BBVA Compass and Bank America were below average.
MoneyRates.com is a leading resource on investing, savings accounts, personal finance and bank rates. The site was founded in 1999 and offers consumers information about savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.
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