Americans’ Trust in Banks Continues to Decline, but Trust From Major Bank Members Varies

by | Mar 20, 2023

This month has seen failures to Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank – the latter two ranking among the three largest bank failures in U.S. history. Although federal regulatory agencies have taken steps to contain the fallout – which recent CivicScience data found to be popular with nearly 2 in 3 Americans (63% at least ‘somewhat approve’ of the U.S. government intervening to protect deposits of SVB clients) – American trust in banks is still tenuous at the moment.

At the start of last week, CivicScience found trust levels declining a fair amount from the previous week – and especially plummeting among crypto investors. But by week’s end, the percentage of U.S. adults reporting they trust banks ‘at least somewhat’ slid further to match its lowest point (61%) since CivicScience began tracking the question last year.

But trust isn’t wavering the same for members of every major American bank. Of the banks polled, Citibank, Chase, and Bank of America members are the most likely to report being ‘very confident’ in the health and security of their bank following the SVB collapse (48%, 45%, and 43%, respectively) – with 85% of Chase members reporting at least some level of confidence. On the other side of the coin, Wells Fargo members are the least likely to report the highest level of confidence (29%), and PNC members are the least likely to report any level of confidence right now (71%).

Despite the relatively high confidence Americans still have in their own personal bank, those who are the most concerned about their current employment situation are the least likely to express any level of confidence (1-in-3 claims they’re ‘not at all confident’ in their personal bank right now). Americans with no concern in their current employment situation are nearly twice as likely as those reporting the highest concern level to be ‘very confident’ in their personal bank.

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