Not long ago, we wrote about bad and good NPS scores. In it, we hemmed and hawed, equivocated, harrumphed, and even tergiversated. It was great.

But in providing the most accurate answer, we may have failed to provide concrete numbers. We’re here to try again. But fair warning: there will again be a lot more writing than numbers. The simple fact of the matter is that NPS scores resist concretes, absolutes, and certainties.

(If you’d like to read our first article about it, learn about good credit union NPS scores here.)

Oh, and one more caveat:

Yes, it’s true that saying “NPS score” is redundant. However, to differentiate between the NPS survey and the NPS survey result, we’ll just say “NPS score” to talk about scores and results.

What Is an Average NPS Score?

According to Fred Reichheld, the inventor of the Net Promoter Score (NPS), the average American company scores around +5 to +10. Considering the NPS scoring scale goes from -100 to 100, that indicates that most businesses score just above the middle of that range.

There are two things we can learn just from knowing the average scores:

1. The average business receives more positive reviews than negative ones. Averages change per industry, but overall, American consumers tend to like their chosen businesses.
2. A “good” score is a positive one. Just because the scale goes all the way up to +100 doesn’t mean that +100 is a realistic goal. Similarly, depending on the industry and other factors, a score of 0 isn’t necessarily bad. In some cases, scores from 0–10 may even qualify as good scores!

In this blog, we won’t get into average NPS scores for different industries. You can probably already imagine how that works:

Think about which service you enjoy more—getting cavities filled or getting massages. Then think about which business will see higher NPS scores: dentists or day spas.

It’s not important to know which industries tend to score higher and which tend to score lower. It’s important to know only how your own industry scores. Understanding your industry’s NPS landscape is the key to truly understanding “good” NPS scores—understanding is way better than just checking an arbitrary number on a blog.

NPS Scores in the Financial Industry

Most financial institutions see NPS scores around 35. Keep in mind that this is averaged, and the range of scores is actually quite large. For example, USAA bank scored an industry-leading NPS of 75, while HSBC scored a paltry -24 after unaddressed customer service complaints.

With that in mind, it’s still kind of hard to determine which scores are “good” and which aren’t.

Is a score above 0 good? It would indicate general approval.

Is a score above 35 good? It would be roughly average for the industry, but it would also be higher than the American average of 5–10.

Is a score above 50 good? It’s much higher than average for the financial industry, but it’s still well behind industry leaders.

All of a sudden, the financial industry average of 35 doesn’t seem so concrete, does it?

Good Credit Union NPS Scores

So, what is a good credit union NPS score? Even that is difficult to answer!

When we first started LiveSurvey, we saw that the average NPS of our clients and friends in the credit union industry was around 45. That’s a great average! It’s much higher than competitors like JP Morgan Chase, which sits around 0.

One thing we found is that the average score of credit unions using LiveSurvey is up to +53. By most measures, that’s absolutely a good NPS score. It’s also higher than they were before LiveSurvey. Soliciting and listening to member feedback does have its advantages.

The Takeaway

The average American business scores between +5–10.

The average NPS score for the financial industry is 35.

The average NPS for credit unions is higher, around 45.

A “good” NPS score could be any of these numbers, or it could be higher. The LiveSurvey average is around 53, with some of our clients in the mid- and high-60s.

What’s most important is that you remember that NPS scores are best used as baseline measurements. Over time, you can continually monitor your score to make sure that you’re heading in the right direction.

It’s also critical to remember that every member of an organization contributes to NPS scores. It’s not just the member-facing staff. For credit unions, websites, mobile banking apps, credit and debit cards, branch layout, and more all contribute to how members evaluate your performance.

Additional Reading

If you’d like to read more about how to leverage NPS survey results at your credit union, follow the links below. You can also subscribe to our blog if you don’t want to miss our weekly post about credit union survey strategy.

Tips for Increasing Survey Response Rates

How (and How Not) to Use Your Credit Union NPS Scores in Board Strategy