Have banks suffered through the worst of retail customer anger? One could make a case that the big consumer banks are righting their customer service perception problems. Overall, banks saw their American Customer Satisfaction Index scores rise in 2010.

The index measures customers' satisfaction with their checking, savings and personal loans. The big bank scores rose 76 from 75 last year. In 2007, the score peaked at 78, notes MarketWatch.

Credit unions and smaller banks still have higher customer satisfaction scores than big banks, both scoring 80. For credit unions, this was a drop of 5 percent from 2009.

As for specific banks, Wells Fargo rose to 76, compared with 75 in 2009 and 78 in 2007. Citigroup rose to 69, compared with 68 in 2009 and 72 in 2006. Bank of America rose to 68, compared with 67 in 2009 and 73 in 2008. JPMorgan Chase's score was 67, compared with 68 in 2009 and 74 in 2007.

The rebound might be considered surprising, given the recent changes in checking account fee structures. But in the end, the fee changes may not be such a big deal.

What this score doesn't capture is the customer experience with mortgages--and foreclosures. Many have complained bitterly, and the press has been unrelentingly bad. An index that measured mortgage process satisfaction would be interesting.

For more:
- here's the scores
- here's a MarketWatch article

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