After a decade of lagging behind, banks may finally have closed a gap with credit unions when it comes to customer service, new research from the American Customer Satisfaction Index suggests.

Credit unions and banks both posted an ACSI score of 81 (out of 100). Although banks gained ground on credit unions over the last year, this is due to credit unions experiencing a dip in customer satisfaction of 1.2%. Banks, in the meantime, remained unchanged year to year.

David VanAmburg, managing director at ACSI, said in a statement accompanying the report that the 2008 global financial crisis was a boon for credit unions.

“Many customers, fed up with big banks, took their business to credit unions where they received better, more individually tailored service,” he said. “But with the economy much improved, there’s less incentive to join credit unions – particularly if they no longer provide higher levels of satisfaction than banks do.”

An industry-wide shift to digital, coinciding with exponential growth in the use of mobile banking apps for a range of services, means customers are going into branches less frequently. Banks have also generally built apps considered superior to their credit union counterparts.

JPMorgan Chase emerged as the highest-rated national bank after a 1% bump to a score of 80. It got high marks from its customers for its mobile banking app and its easy-to-access brick-and-mortar locations and ATMs.

Former category leader Citibank came in second among national banks after falling 2 percent to 79. As noted in ACSI’s report, Citibank has announced it is restructuring to a regional model following reports that profitability and share deposits are straggling.

Bank of America, in the meantime, dipped below the national bank average following a 1% decrease to 76 and Wells Fargo remained in the last place with an ACSI score of 74, the same as last year.

National banks scored 77 overall, a 1.3% decrease from the previous year.

Super-regional banks Capital One and SunTrust Bank each experienced a 1% increase to 81, while TD Bank remained at 80 and Regions Bank dropped 2% into a three-way tie with U.S. Bank and BB&T (each down 1%) at 79.

Citizens Bank moved up 1% to tie PNC Bank, which was unchanged at 78. Despite ranking second to last, KeyBank rose 3% to 77, representing the largest increase among super-regional banks. Last place went to Fifth Third Bank, which could stand to improve its interest rates, according to the report, and thus dropped 1% to 75.

Super regional banks scored 79 overall, the same as last year.

Regional and community banks lead the banking category with a score of 84, despite seeing a 1.2% dip in customer satisfaction. Still, these banks outperformed national and super-regional banks in nearly every area of the customer experience.

ACSI research indicates credit unions offer better in-person customer service than banks, but not by much – credit unions scored 89 while banks scored 88. Credit unions also lead banks in speed of service at branches, 88 to 85, and call center satisfaction, 84 to 81. But banks’ mobile apps were deemed superior in quality, 86 to 85, and more reliable, 85 to 83.

ACSI said credit unions could improve their scores by providing more financial services, making it easier to open and change accounts, and offering more competitive interest rates.

It’s worth noting individual banks’ scores ranged from a solid C to a low B and that increasingly popular alternatives such as challenger banks were not included in the research as a separate category.