Regional banks provide a better overall customer experience and level of trust than many of leading players in the industry such as Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, according to a new survey by the Luxury Institute.

The survey asked wealthy US clients with a minimum household income of $250,000 to rate multiple aspects of their primary bank from a list of national and regional banks on convenience, staff, company principles, and products and services.

Wells Fargo achieved the overall highest composite score and also led in each of the four categories, while smaller banks beat Bank of America and Chase for having knowledgeable, trustworthy and respectful staff.

With client expectations higher than ever before, customer service is increasingly becoming a key differentiator for firms in the financial industry.

Despite earning the lowest overall score, Bank of America still holds the biggest market share of high-income clients.

Meanwhile, Chase consistently ranks between Bank of America and Wells Fargo and has the second largest market share of all rated consumer banks. 

Despite shortcomings of bigger banks, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and Citi Bank customers are far more likely (45 per cent compared to 27 per cent) to open a new account with their existing bank as compared to current customers of smaller banks.

"There is an opportunity for big banks to bridge the customer experience gap between themselves and their smaller competitors by focusing on developing a unique customer culture to deliver value for all segments of customers, and especially the top customers who deliver most of the profits," said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of Luxury Institute.