Credit unions continue to beat big banks in serving small biz: CFIB

Small business owners are more satisfied with service from smaller banks than from the Big Five.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s (CFIB) latest bank rankings found that credit unions scored better than conventional banks in providing service to small- and medium-sized businesses. Regional banks followed, with ATB Financial, Desjardins and National Bank all holding spots ahead of the Big Five.

The Bank of Montreal was the first of the big banks in the rankings, coming in fifth overall, while Royal Bank of Canada scored the lowest, sitting at ninth place. For the second year in a row, HSBC scored the lowest out of all 10 banks in serving small businesses.

Financial institutions were rated on the satisfaction of small business owners within the areas of financing, fees, account management and service. Credit unions achieved the highest scores across those four categories. According to the survey, credit unions have held first place since 2009.

Among the Big Five banks, BMO received had the best results in the areas of financing and account management, but underperformed its counterparts in the service and fees categories. CIBC received a strong score in the area of service, but placed second among the big banks due to a low score in the fees category. TD scored the lowest out of all 10 banks in providing financing, but received the best score in the area of service among the Big Five.

Businesses with few than five employees reported the lowest level of satisfaction overall. Scotiabank, TD and RBC performed significantly better among businesses with 50 to 499 employees, the report found.

The survey was conducted between Apr. 9 and July 29, 2019 and is based on a sample of 11,599 small- and medium-sized business owners across Canada.

Read the full Banking Service 2020 Report Card for more details.

Maddie Johnson

Maddie is a freelance writer and editor who has been reporting for Advisor.ca since 2019.