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Although this year’s banking crisis – which began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March – hasn’t caused the entire U.S. economy to crater along with it, we’re still feeling the aftereffects. Last week, Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings of 10 small and mid-sized banks, leaving the door open for further downgrades to larger banks on risky footing.

CivicScience extensively tracked consumer response to the various bank failures throughout the spring, and its always-on trust-in-banks data constantly reflects how confidence levels change in response to the news. According to the latest reading, U.S. adults who trust banks ‘at least somewhat’ matched its lowest reading of the summer (62%) and dropped four percentage points from the first week in July.

This varies between customers of the major bank chains. Adults who count Citibank as their primary bank are the most likely to trust banks ‘at least somewhat’ in the last two months (74%), while PNC and Wells Fargo customers demonstrate the lowest trust levels of late (65% and 66%, respectively). That said, all banks surveyed exceed the latest trust levels polled among the Gen Pop – with Citibank comfortably exceeding.

But trusting banks to some extent doesn’t necessarily mean bank customers are likely to stand pat with their current account. Perhaps surprisingly, the major bank that performed the best for recent trust levels is also the bank whose customers are most likely to withdraw funds and move them to a ‘safer/more reputable bank’ within the next 30 days. Over 1-in-5 Citibank members claim they plan to move funds in the next month, while Chase members are the least likely to do so in the next month.

Three more banking insights you need to know:

  • Americans planning to move funds to a ‘safer/more reputable bank’ peaked in mid-July at 15%, but that figure has fallen to 12% in the past week.
  • Nearly 3-in-10 Gen Z adults (29%) reported in the last two months that they intended to move funds to a ‘safer/more reputable’ bank – and one-quarter claimed they already had done so.
  • Those who are ‘very concerned’ about inflation are the least likely to make any changes to their primary bank in the next month (81%), while those who are ‘not at all concerned’ about inflation are the most likely to move funds to a ‘safer/more reputable’ bank (16%).

CivicScience will continue to track the latest shifts in the banking industry. If you’re looking to get ahead of the latest economic developments, book a meeting today and unlock a free month of premium content.