Bankers love to boast about how many customers have adopted their mobile apps and online platforms But they may want to tone down their enthusiasm at least until they fix shortcomings on the customer service side Customers who use only smartphone apps or online channels are the least satisfied with their banks according to a new JD Power study Their complaints center around poor communication and advice as well as dissatisfaction with online product offerings fees and opening new accounts The most satisfied customers are those who frequently use online or mobile banking but still visit branches two or three times a month JD Power said in its 2018 US Retail Banking Satisfaction Study released Thursday JD Powers findings suggest that banks infatuation with how digital banking can cut costs has blinded them to problems with digital bankings quality of product delivery and made them less focused on the importance of the branch experience said Paul McAdam senior director of the firms banking practice Even if customers dont go into a branch that frequently theres something about adding that personal element to it McAdam said JD Power only surveyed customers of banks that have physical branches and did not include digital-only banks such as Ally Financial and USAA It covered banks across the asset spectrum ranging from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to the 4 billion-asset Bangor Savings Bank in Maine To be certain digital banking has provided numerous benefits to banks The biggest one are winning the war to gather deposits at least in part due to higher levels of investment in technology And consumers shift to digital channels banking has allowed banks to reduce expenses by trimming staff and closing branches The digital movement of money is half the money moved by customers today Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan said during an April 16 conference call Its allowed us over the last 10 years to go from 6 100 branches to 4 400 Still its when customers combine use of both digital channels and physical branches that theyre the most satisfied according to the JD Power study Thats likely because they are customers of banks that have figured out how to effectively integrate the branch experience with the digital banking channel McAdam said And the finding reinforces the idea that brick-and-mortar branches still have a role to play even as branch traffic declines he said It seems that the customers who arent just digital-centric feel a lot better about the products and fees and their engagement with the bank McAdam said JD Power changed some of the factors that it used to compile this years study Each banks score reflects a banks performance in six categories including customer communications product offerings fees and service provided via ATMs branches and mobile and digital channels In this years study US Bank was the top-ranked institution in the California with a score of 824 on a 1 000-point basis BBVA Compass topped last years rankings in the Golden State but was not included in this years results due to a change in methodology In Florida TD Bank was tops for the third time in the last four years with a score of 844 The 32 billion-asset Frost Bank a unit of Cullen Frost Bankers led the Texas region for ninth consecutive year with a score of 873 In the Mid-Atlantic region the 9 billion-asset Northwest Bank in Warren Pa had the highest score at 840 The 20 billion-asset First National Bank of Omaha placed first in the Midwest region with an 845 score Bangor Savings led the New England region with an 862 score In the North Central region the 4 billion-asset City National Bank of West Virginia in Charleston placed first with a score of 854 In the Northwest region the 10 billion-asset Banner Bank in Walla Walla Wash placed first for the second straight year with a score of 838 In the South Central region the 14 billion-asset Trustmark in Jackson Miss topped the rankings with an 856 score The 12 billion-asset United Community Bank in Blairsville Ga topped the Southeast region for the second straight year with an 854 score As for Wells Fargo its performance in this years JD Power report is one that the San Francisco bank would probably like to forget Wells placed last in four of the regions and in the bottom five in an additional five regions Still it could have been even worse HSBC logged the single lowest score in any of this years rankings with a score of 737 in the Mid-Atlantic region The highest score this year was the 877 posted by the 15 billion-asset MidFirst Bank in Oklahoma City in the Southwest region