According to the Reputation Institute’s recent survey, banks have a lower standing than Big Pharma, the media, oil companies and telecommunications firms. They are however, slightly above Congress. Union Bank of San Francisco, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi financial services, topped the list with a ranking of 78.2 out of a possible 100. Bank of America ranks at the bottom. Its score along with that of HSBC and Wells Fargo was below 60. BofA’s customers rated it 52.6, non customers 35.1. The survey defined a ranking of 70 or above as an indication of customer satisfaction. Although both BofA and Wells Fargo claim that according to in house surveys their customer satisfaction is rising, those of us who have been observers of bank behavior since the 2008 financial crisis aren’t surprised by the Institute’s finding. What’s obvious to us doesn’t appear to be so for the banks’ decision makers. The BofA chairman said deposits are rising, and customers leaving the bank is at an all time low. Wells Fargo said that customer service scores were at an all time high in the second quarter of 2013. It looks like banks will work to fix their image and leave intact the underlying problems that at the very least are reflected in the low scores.