Public Ranks Banks Fifth in Confidence Level

PRINCETON, N.J.- Credit unions may not trust bankers, but consumers trust their banks. Banks came fifth place among 15 basic American institutions in public confidence, according to new Gallup Poll News Service data. Half of 1,029 adults surveyed said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in banks, up from a low of 30% in March of 1993. Men and women were fairly equal in their confidence levels with 51% of men and 50% of women responding that they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in banks. Older Americans had slightly less confidence (54%) in banks than those aged 18-49 (58%). However, the spread between conservatives and liberals was the largest with 62% of Republicans saying they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in banks and only 47% of Democrats responding similarly. Just 44% of Independents said they had high confidence in banks. Coming in first in the Gallup poll was the military at 82%. Newspapers ranked tenth (33%); Congress was eleventh with 29%; and the lowest ranked were health management organizations at 17%. These figures varied little from last year, according to Gallup. Banks climbed 3%, while newspapers fell 2%. Congress remained the same.