If you hate your bank, you aren’t alone. In the wake of bank failures and shotgun marriages resulting from the financial crisis, customers are far less satisfied with the service they’re receiving from the nation’s two biggest banks. Bank of America’s (BAC) controversial acquisition of Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) purchase of Washington Mutual, once the nation’s biggest savings and loan, have consumers giving both institutions the thumbs down.

Customer satisfaction with the finance and insurance sector as a whole improved slightly last quarter, according to the most recent report from American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), released Tuesday, but that was because folks were a bit happier with their insurers. As for Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, the numbers suggest that giving away free toasters won’t be enough to make up for their shortfalls in satisfaction.

Bank of America saw its customer satisfaction reading plunge 8% to an industry low score of 67 out of 100 points, according to ACSI, while JPMorgan Chase dropped 7% to 68. “Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase … face a challenging customer environment with significant drops in satisfaction,” the survey concluded.

The reasons for the drops in satisfaction are pretty obvious, according to ACSI. Bank of America customers are suffering from the cost-cutting undertaken to offset higher-than-expected debt resulting from the Merrill Lynch acquisition. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase is having difficulties swallowing Washington Mutual — and it’s the customers who are getting indigestion.

Overall customer satisfaction with banks held steady, albeit at just 75 out of 100 points, and not all big acquisitions have to lead to consumer heartburn. One year after it scooped up Wachovia, satisfaction with Wells Fargo (WFC) actually improved 1% to … drum roll please … 73.
By DAN BURROWS

Stock-index futures fell sharply late Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced it’s raising the discount rate it charges on loans to banks. The dollar rallied sharply, and the euro touched a nine-month low on the move, which market participants interpret as signaling the beginning of the end of the central bank’s extraordinary stimulus measures.

The Fed raised the discount rate to 0.75% from 0.5% in order to encourage banks to tap money markets rather than the central bank for short-term loans.

Futures on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) were off 65 points, or 0.6%, at 10,310 as of 4:40 Eastern time, while S&P 500 ($INX) index futures were off 9 points, or 0.8%, at 1,096. Action in the futures market is often — but not always — indicative of market direction during the regular session.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, leaped as much as 0.7% on the news, a large move in currency terms.

In a statement aimed at market speculation that the Fed is finally changing the ultra-accommodative monetary policy it has maintained since the financial crisis struck, the Fed said: “These changes are intended as a further normalization of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities. The modifications are not expected to lead to tighter financial conditions for households and businesses and do not signal any change in the outlook for the economy or for monetary policy.”

Still, it’s the first upward rate move from the Fed since the meltdown. It’s not likely to be the last.
By DAN BURROWS