TROY, Mich. — Small business customers are increasingly satisfied with their banks overall, but their satisfaction with relationship managers has fallen sharply as those contacts become less frequent and personal, according to a J.D. Power study released Tuesday.
Overall satisfaction rose 10 points from a year earlier to 726 on a 1,000-point scale, and has increased 54 points over the past four years, the 2026 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study found. Satisfaction with relationship managers, however, fell 15 points this year.
Customers reported that relationship managers were harder to reach and slower to respond, and increasingly questioned whether the managers understood and cared about their business needs, J.D. Power said.
“While small business banking customer satisfaction has been trending upward for four years, some cracks are starting to emerge in a key aspect of the banking relationship,” said Paul McAdam, senior director of banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power.
“Because relationship managers are critical to small business customer experience, customer retention and brand advocacy, a significant decline in customer satisfaction with this aspect of the banking experience demands attention. Fewer small business customers see their relationship manager as a partner in growing their business, so restoring that connection is essential to protecting their loyalty.”
Where Improvements Took Place
The overall gains were driven by improvements in several operational areas, including mobile banking, up 16 points; convenience, up 10 points; products and fees, up 10 points; and communication, up nine points. J.D. Power said banks were delivering consistently high service levels in basics such as convenience, product offerings and resolving problems.
Sixty-one percent of small business banking customers were assigned a relationship manager, up from 58% last year. Even with that increased coverage, customer-initiated contacts and face-to-face meetings with relationship managers declined from a year earlier, the study found.
The decline in relationship manager satisfaction was steepest among newer customers. Scores fell 35 points among businesses that had worked with their bank for two years or less, compared with a 13-point decline among those with relationships lasting three years or more.
Regions Bank ranked highest in small business banking customer satisfaction with a score of 756, followed by Capital One at 754 and Fifth Third Bank at 739.
What the Study Measures
The study measures seven factors, in order of importance: trust; people; the ability to bank how and when customers want; account offerings; help saving time or money for the business; digital channels; and resolving problems or complaints.
The study included responses from 6,974 owners or financial decision-makers at small businesses that use business banking services. It was fielded from May through August 2026.
