Only Government and Tobacco Have Worse Industry Reputations Than Financial Services

USAA and Fidelity Investments Post Highest Ratings Among Financial Services Companies in the 2015 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient® Study

NEW YORK, N.Y. - April 20, 2015 - The financial services industry's reputation has recovered considerably from its recent low point in 2009, but it still falls far below other industries many people love to hate, including energy and telecommunications. However, some financial firms escape the downbeat industry assessment, with the reputations of two companies reaching the "very good" range, according to the 16th annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient® (RQ) study.

According to the study, 35% of the general public say the financial services industry in general has a positive reputation, up from 11% six years ago. But only the government and tobacco sectors place lower in the survey, with just 15% of the general public saying each has a positive reputation.

In comparison, a greater percentage of the general public give positive reputation ratings to other industries, including:

• 45% for energy
• 46% for automotive
• 53% for telecom
• 54% for manufacturing
• 60% for consumer products
• 77% for technology

"For an industry that people interact with daily on some of the most important matters in their lives, from arranging mortgages to saving for retirement and college, financial services still lack positive connotations for most of the customers it serves," says Wendy Salomon, Vice President of Reputation Management & Public Affairs for Harris Poll.

"Financial services' poor reputation among roughly two-thirds of Americans should be a strong call to action. Our research shows that people clearly believe reputation matters and act on that belief," says Salomon. "More than half of the general public actively seeks out information about companies they hear about or do business with, and 36% have decided against doing business with a company because of something they learned about its conduct."

Individual financial companies' ratings vary widely

For the RQ study, Harris Poll annually surveys the general public to establish the most visible companies and then ranks them according to their corporate reputations from excellent to very poor, with none falling into the very poor range based on this year's results. Harris Poll expanded the list this year from 60 to 100 companies. In addition to the more detailed company rankings, Harris Poll also asks whether specific industries have a positive or negative reputation.

Compared to the financial services industry overall, the reputations of the individual financial companies among the 100 most visible companies range widely from very good (scores of 75 to 79) to poor (scores of 50 to 64). Twelve financial firms make this year's list of the 100 most visible companies, with USAA topping the group with a very good reputation rating of 78.22 and ranking 22 out of the 100 most visible companies overall. Insurance companies in general demonstrate stronger reputation than banks:

Citigroup and Bank of America have shown the greatest reputation improvement among financial companies in recent years, although both still fall into the poor reputation range in this year's study. Citigroup's 2015 score has increased almost 12 points from 2010 while Bank of America's reputation has risen nearly 11 points since 2012.

"Most financial companies have done a dismal job in recent years of connecting with customers and with the general public on what matters to them. Yet there's no reason Americans can't feel as positively toward financial services firms as they do towards companies they hold in high esteem, such as Amazon or Samsung, which have excellent reputations because they consistently deliver what the general public cares about," says Salomon. "It's about firing on all dimensions, from top-quality products and services, financial performance and vision and leadership to positive emotional appeal, social responsibility and workplace environment."

"Financial firms have a clear choice now: Prioritize building their reputations and telling their stories, or let others continue to fill that void and remain lumped together with the rest of the industry," she says.

A complete ranking of the RQ's 100 most visible companies can be found in the 16^th Annual RQ Summary Report.

Reputation Quotient Methodology

The annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study was conducted online, in English, among 27,278 U.S. respondents from October 20-December 18, 2014, with preliminary nominating waves of research conducted with 4,034 respondents across August 26-28, 2014 and September 24-26, 2014. The Annual RQ study begins with a Nomination Phase which is used to identify the companies with the most "visible" reputations. All respondents are asked, unaided, to name companies that stand out as having the best and worst reputations. Online nominations are summed to create a total number of nominations for each company. The final list of the 100 most visible companies in the U.S. is measured in the RQ Ratings Phase. In the ratings phase, respondents are randomly assigned to rate two of the companies with which they are "very" or "somewhat" familiar. After the first company rating is completed, the respondent is given the option to rate the second company. Companies are rated on their reputation on 20 different attributes that comprise the Reputation Quotient instrument. The attributes are grouped into six different reputation dimensions: Emotional Appeal, Financial Performance, Products & Services, Social Responsibility, Vision & Leadership and Workplace Environment.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll and sample partner surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in an online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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Harris Poll Reputation Quotient® study results disclosed in this press release may not be used for advertising, marketing or promotional purposes without the prior written consent of Harris Poll.

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* New to Most Visible List this year (not in 60 Most Visible 2014)

Guide to RQ Scores:

80 & above: Excellent

75-79: Very Good

70-74: Good

65-69: Fair

55-64: Poor

50-54: Very Poor

Below 50: Critical