Large bank mortgage servicers overall notched higher customer satisfaction ratings than large nonbank servicers, according to the 2015 J.D. Power study of consumer satisfaction with their primary mortgage servicers. Customers gave bank servicers on average 731 points out of 1,000, while nonbanks notched on average 658 points.
While the top-rated servicer overall was Quicken Loans, banks occupied the next several slots, led by Citizens Financial Group, Providence, R.I.; Capital One Financial Corp., McLean, Va.; Fifth Third Mortgage, Cincinnati; U.S. Bancorp; and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
The survey results indicate that bank servicers have improved their customer service. “Bank mortgage servicers’ desire to retain and expand the broader relationship with the borrower has driven some improvement in customer service,” said J.D. Power Mortgage Practice Director Craig Martin. “Non-bank servicers have had less business incentive to improve the experience as their focus is on keeping borrowers paying their mortgage, not on delivering a better relationship.”
The most satisfied customers — those rating their servicer at 900 or higher — are the most loyal, the survey found; 85 percent of them said they would definitely recommend the servicer and 74 percent said they would definitely use them again. Servicing transfers negatively affected satisfaction, with customers whose loans have been transfered twice being more than 100 points less satisfied. Nearly half of mortgages have been transfered once, and one in five have been transfered at least twice.
