NEW YORK, July 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the New York-based Luxury Institute released its innovative 2018 Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index, featuring annual rankings and ratings for leading consumer retail bank brands by affluent U.S. consumers. The Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index methodology was developed using 10 years of proprietary, quantitative and qualitative research with affluent consumers, front-line associates, managers and executives. The survey distills the critical components of brand equity according to luxury consumers in the 21 st century.

Chase scores 6.96 out of a maximum total score of 10. The brand offers the best products (accounts, terms and conditions, fees) as rated by affluent consumers. It also offers the best customer service experience among the national brands rated. Those two metrics account for the expertise of a brand and accounts for 50% of the score. With regard to emotional intelligence, Chase is second in empathy, leads in trustworthiness, and is second in generosity and kindness. TD Bank is a close second, driven more by its emotional intelligence score, while its products and customer service are second only to Chase.

The newspaper headlines don't even begin to highlight the damage done with affluent consumers by previous leadership to the Wells Fargo brand. Wells Fargo is rated last on expertise, comprised of quality of products and customer service experience, by affluent consumers. In terms of emotional intelligence, the brand is also rated last with 37% of affluent consumers rating Wells Fargo worst in empathy, as defined by listening to and understanding customer needs, while 44% rated it worst in trustworthiness, and 39% rated it worst in generosity. It is important for the Wells Fargo Board and its new leadership to not simply fix the bank’s product and service experience. It is important to repair its fractured culture for the human beings who work there and its customers.

“We rarely call out individual brand leaders, but Jamie Dimon is a human being who deserves a call out for his consistent high-humanity and high-performance over many years as the leader of Chase,” said Milton Pedraza, Luxury Institute and EIX CEO. “Dimon is a confident leader who practices humility and generosity. He deliberately goes out of his way to make people feel special. Dimon is a missionary leader, not a mercenary one. His focus on helping people, professionally and personally, to foster their development as human beings, is acknowledged by this empirical research as much as it is by the people who work with him. The emotionally intelligent culture at Chase translates into a superior and engaging customer experience.”

The EIBI survey also provides rated brands with their full, detailed scores by demographic customer segments, as well as the ratings of their competitive set. Brands rated and ranked are in alphabetical order:

  • Bank of America
  • BB&T
  • Capital One 
  • Citibank
  • Chase
  • HSBC
  • PNC
  • SunTrust
  • TD Bank
  • US Bancorp
  • Wells Fargo

The EIBI survey is an extension of the Luxcelerate high-performance client relationship system pioneered by Luxury Institute 10 years ago using advanced neuroscience, high performance science, and technology science. Luxcelerate helps to transform the brand’s executives, managers and front-line teams into emotionally intelligent, high-performance relationship builders. By optimizing high-humanity with high-performance, Luxcelerate has dramatically improved customer data collection, conversion, retention rates and profitability for small, medium and large brands across the world. For case studies and testimonials please visit www.luxuryinstitute.com .  

The Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 1,200 responders with a minimum of $150K annual household income across several brand categories most consumed by affluent consumers.

The complete 2018 U.S. consumer retail banks Emotional Intelligent Brand Index is available for purchase. For more information please visit www.LuxuryInstitute.com or contact Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza ( mpedraza@luxuryinstitute.com ).

Contact info: Katherine Sousa ksousa@luxuryinstitute.com