Truist reckons with customer backlash after integration snags

Early last fall, Truist Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina, found itself in a favorable position.

The $536 billion-asset company had made big gains in an annual bank reputation survey. It was rated as having an excellent reputation, ranking in the top 25% of large U.S. banks.

These days, however, some customers have a very different opinion about Truist after the company completed a technology integration over Presidents Day weekend in February. For some clients, the core systems conversion the last and largest such event necessary to combine BB&T and SunTrust Banks into the juggernaut now called Truist resulted in delayed access to their cash, difficulties activating and using their new Truist debit cards and excruciatingly long wait times for customer service.

The final stage of Truist's integration in February involved shifting nearly seven million legacy SunTrust customers to a new digital system, rebranding 2,000 branches and installing roughly 6,000 Truist signs across the companys footprint.

Bloomberg

Since the switch, angry and frustrated customers say they have spent hours on the phone trying to resolve the issues. Some have sought help at branches. Many have aired their grievances on social media. Others became so exasperated that they filed complaints with bank regulators.

In March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 527 complaints against Truist, according to the agencys consumer complaint database. Thats up more than 81% from the number of complaints filed in January, and more than 120% higher than the number filed in March 2021.