WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 18 /PRNewswire/ — For a second consecutive year, Wachovia ranks highest in satisfying customers who recently obtained a home equity loan or line of credit, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Home Equity Line/Loan Origination Study(SM) released today.

Now in its second year, the study measures customer satisfaction with home equity line/loan lenders. Three factors are examined to determine overall satisfaction. They are, in order of importance: closing process (36%), loan officer/representative or banker (34%) and application/approval process (31%).(1)

The study finds that highly committed customers are four times more likely to stay with their current home equity lender and three times more likely to recommend their lender to friends and family than customers with moderate and low levels of commitment. Highly committed customers also possess nearly twice as many additional financial services. A modest 5 percentage-point shift in customers from moderately to highly committed levels can lead to tens of millions of dollars in new and retained loan balances and deposit balances for the typical lender included in the study.

Wachovia receives an overall index score of 831 on a 1,000-point scale, performing particularly well in all three factors contributing to customer satisfaction. SunTrust follows Wachovia in the rankings with an index score of 794, improving by 74 index points since 2006. U.S. Bank, which is included in the study for the first time, follows SunTrust with an index score of 787.

Additionally, Wachovia has a considerable percentage of highly committed customers — 32 percent compared to an industry average of 19 percent. Among home equity customers, those who are highly committed are two to three times more likely than moderately committed customers to recommend their lender to others, consider them for their next home equity loan or refinance, or stay with their current lender.

"Wachovia manages to do everything well across the board-from the application process to closing-and it shows in the results," said Tim Ryan, senior research director of the finance and insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "It is particularly impressive that Wachovia records a 63-point improvement above their top-ranking score in 2006. They have made notable strides in shortening application processing and funding times. This improvement in timeliness, coupled with Wachovia's competitive rates, are important drivers in their high levels of customer satisfaction."

The study also finds that overall satisfaction has increased considerably across the industry — currently averaging 766 index points compared with an average of 725 in 2006. This increase is driven by improvements in loan processing times, proactive communication with customers about the status of their loan applications and a lower incidence of borrowers paying closing costs. On average, the amount of time it takes to approve an application has improved by an average of three days — from 11 in 2006 to eight in 2007. The length of time between application approval and availability of funds to customers has decreased by two days on average — from eight days in 2006 to six days in 2007. In addition, loan representatives performed better in explaining the steps of the loan origination process, including providing time frames for completion and informing customers of their credit scores.

"These improvements are good news for both customers and lenders," said Ryan. "Timeliness of application approvals and availability of funds means that the loan origination process is becoming more convenient for customers. In addition, lenders are understanding the importance of setting expectations about the process and proactively communicating with customers to manage those expectations. Customers who say they have an error-free loan experience tend to recommend their lenders at a higher rate, so the payoff can be considerable for lenders whose customers are highly satisfied."

The study also finds that 26 percent of consumers who shop for a home equity line of credit or loan choose a lender with whom they have an existing relationship. Along with home equity accounts, customers most frequently utilize checking accounts (47%), credit cards (38%) and primary mortgages (23%) with the same lender.

USAA, a financial services provider open only to the U.S. military community and their families and therefore not included in the rankings, also achieves a high level of customer satisfaction.

The 2007 Home Equity Line/Loan Origination Study is based on responses from 3,871 customers who originated a home equity line/loan between July 2006 and April 2007. Customers were surveyed from April to May 2007.

(1)Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.