|
|
|
Contact Us
.............................
1220 West Third St. Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501.376.3741
Fax: 501.376.9243
Email Us
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
News Center - General Banking Issues |
|
|
April 28, 2011
High Court Limits Class-Action Lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled in a 5-4 decision that businesses may require customers to sign binding individual arbitration agreements that prevent them from pooling together claims in a class-action lawsuit. Mandatory arbitration agreements are often used for credit cards, auto financing and installment loans.
The Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws invalidating class action waivers in arbitration agreements because “[r]equiring the availability of classwide arbitration interferes with fundamental attributes of arbitration and thus creates a scheme inconsistent with the FAA,” the high court said.
The Supreme Court ruling overturns decisions in federal and
California
state courts. In the case -- AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion -- Vincent and Liza Concepcion brought a class-action lawsuit against AT&T Mobility alleging fraud under
California
law because the company charged them $30 in state taxes for what they thought was a free cell phone.
The lower courts had ruled that they were entitled to join in a class-action claim, despite a binding arbitration agreement in their phone contract.
AmBA
, the California Bankers Association and three other financial services trade groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting AT&T. Read the decision. For more information, contact
AmBA
's Greg Taylor.
April 25, 2011
J.D. Power Study Shows Improved Satisfaction With Retail Banks
Customer satisfaction with retail banks has improved for the first time since 2007, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study released last Thursday.
Overall customer satisfaction edged up by four index points to an average of 752 -- on a 1,000 point scale -- in 2011, the study said. In particular, satisfaction with in-person branch interaction, product offerings and account information improved significantly, the study found, and customer perceptions about their bank’s brand reputation and image improved for the first time since 2008.
Changes in how fees are assessed, however, drove a significant decline in fee satisfaction, even though customers who were charged fees dropped from 53 percent in 2010 to 43 percent in 2011. Overall satisfaction decreases 84 index points, on average, when fee structures change, the study said, and 18 percent reported a change during the past 12 months, compared with 16 percent in 2010.
“[T]he well-publicized attempts by banks to recoup lost revenue due to Reg E debit card revisions by dropping free checking and repricing accounts has clearly had a negative effect,” said Michael Beird, banking services director at J.D. Power. “The good news for consumers, and the challenge for the industry, is that banks are being forced to clearly define the value they’re providing for the prices they’re charging.”
The study, which ranks banks according to customer satisfaction in each region, analyzes satisfaction with the retail banking experience based on transactions, account statements, account initiation/product offerings, convenience, fees and problem resolution. Read more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|