SunTrust Ranks Highest in Satisfying Customers with Home Mortgage Servicing; Online Bill Payment and Notification Yield High Satisfaction Rates, Despite Low Usage

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--SunTrust Mortgage ranks highest in customer satisfaction among home mortgage servicing companies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Primary Mortgage Servicer Study(SM) released today.

The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction with the nation's largest mortgage services based on performance in four primary areas: billing, payment, annual account review/administration, and customer-initiated interaction.

SunTrust Mortgage performs particularly well in the areas of billing, payment and account review/administration. SunTrust is followed in the rankings by World Savings Bank, Bank of America and Countrywide Home Loans, respectively.

"With climbing interest rates suppressing refinance activity, customer recommendations to others has become even more vital to mortgage lending companies," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the finance and insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "Throughout our research, we find that customers who are satisfied with their lender are considerably more likely to offer a personal referral to a friend, co-worker or relative, illustrating the strong relationship between customer satisfaction and long-term customer value."

The billing and payment factors are the two most important and highest-rated aspects of the customer experience with the company that services the mortgage. In these areas, customers place the strongest importance in the accuracy of posting payments as well as the variety of payment options.

The study finds that while only 20 percent of customers pay their mortgage online, those who pay online or through automatic deductions rate their lenders significantly higher overall than customers paying by mail or phone. Furthermore, customers who currently receive an online bill notification are among the most satisfied overall, yet only 6 percent indicate they take advantage of this option.

"In our increasingly electronic world, consumers are always looking for ways to save time in paying their monthly bills," said Bowler. "However, more customers say they would like to pay or receive their mortgage bill online than actually do so, despite existing options available to most borrowers. Given the high impact that the perception of payment options has on overall brand impression, increasing customer awareness of payment options is an area of opportunity for servicers to distinguish themselves in the marketplace."

For the industry as a whole, more than one borrower out of every 10 who contact their lender indicate the service representative they dealt with did not speak clearly.

"By far the most common cause of this complaint is poor articulation of words," said Bowler. "Customers who had difficulty hearing what the service representative was saying rated their experience very poorly -- more than 300 index points lower than those customers who indicate they had no difficulties comprehending the representative they spoke with."

The 2005 Primary Mortgage Servicer Study is based on responses from 9,214 home mortgage customers.

J.D. Power and Associates now conducts three studies related to the mortgage lending experience. In addition to the Primary Mortgage Servicer study, which pertains to the post-funding service experience, the 2005 Primary Mortgage Sales Satisfaction Index Study will be released this fall, followed by the 2005 Home Equity Loan/Line of Credit Sales Satisfaction Index Study.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education and BusinessWeek. The Corporation has more than 300 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2004 were $5.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.