It’s Official: Bank of America Corp (BAC) Has the Worst Reputation in the Banking Industry

People hate Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) . And they do so with a vehemence typically reserved only for enemies of state.

Over the weekend, we published a surprisingly popular article about recent testimony from former employees of the bank — I strongly encourage you to check it out and, if nothing else, browse through the comment section. The testimony alleged, among other things, that Bank of America systematically delayed and unjustly denied mortgage modifications under the 2009 Home Affordable Modification Program. As a result, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people unnecessarily suffered the indignity of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Why would Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) do this? According to one of the former employees, “[supervisors] regularly told us that the more we delayed the HAMP modification process, the more fees Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) would collect.” So there you have it. If you unjustly lost your home to foreclosure courtesy of the nation’s second largest bank by assets, at least you can sleep easy knowing that it made money off your misery. Exorbitant executive salaries don’t pay themselves, you know.

Hyperbole aside, given this type of behavior, it’s no surprise that Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) isn’t held in very high esteem by either its customers or the public at large. But just how much is its reputation suffering? According to a recent survey by American Banker, it has the worst reputation of every bank that the publication examined.

The following table reveals a partial list of the results. The second and third columns contain the “reputation scores” of the institutions, which are “based on answers to survey questions measuring trust, admiration and respect, good feeling and overall esteem for specific brands.”