Kenneth Thomas
MIAMI—Consumer complaints against Florida’s financial institutions have come down since the peak of the recession, banks still get most of the complaints in the Sunshine State, and mortgage products are getting the most gripes.
The analyst who assembled the data also said it “busts the myth” that credit unions provide better service.”
That’s according to the Florida Bank Complaint Analysis, assembled for the last eight years by Kenneth Thomas, a Miami-based bank consultant and economist
The analysis shows that mortgage complaints made up more than one-third of consumer gripes received by the Florida Division of Financial Institutions last year. The study also revealed that Wells Fargo has overtaken Bank of America as the institution with the most complaints filed against it in Florida. BofA topped the survey in its first seven years.
Thomas told the Orlando Sentinel that complains keep financial institutions honest.
“It’s the same reason why you would complain at a restaurant,” Thomas said. “You don’t complain for yourself. You do it for the next guy. Even if you never use that business again, you are doing it for the next person. A good consumer is not just looking out for themselves but for the next person, too.”
Overall, 949 complaints were filed against banking institutions in Florida last year, up 7% from the 885 complaints filed in 2013. Complaints have been on their way down since a high of 1,840 in 2009, the report indicates.
The study ranks every bank based upon the number of complaints, even listing those that received none. Wells Fargo topped the list with 121 complaints and BofA received 114—making those institutions the only ones to receive more than 100 complaints last year. They also represent the banks with the highest market share of deposits in the state.
Space Coast CU in Melbourne, Fla., is the first CU on the list. At fifth the $3.4-billion Space Coast received 34 complaints in 2014.
Thomas told the newspaper that an unexpected trend the survey has uncovered is the number of complaints received by credit unions.
“We busted an urban legend,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “It was always thought that (credit unions) had better service there but why so many complaints then?”