Customer satisfaction with banks has returned to pre-recession levels, but smaller banks and credit unions lead the way in consumers’ happiness with their financial institution of choice, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) said this week.

According to the ACSI’s 2013 Finance and Insurance Report, overall customer satisfaction with retail banking reached a benchmark of 78, putting the industry back at its level prior to the recession of 2008.

While giants like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America saw their customer satisfaction scores improve over the last year, smaller banks, including regional and community banks, outpaced their multibillion-dollar competitors, increasing their own score 5 percent to 83. The ACSI cited better service, fewer fees and free checking as explanations for the increase.

However, the ACSI also noted in its report that rising bank fees have not dinged customer satisfaction with banks, possibly because consumers have become more cautious about avoiding bank fees by using their own banks’ ATMs and maintaining sufficient account balances.

Customers are especially happy with their banks’ websites, with that particular measure of satisfaction landing at 85, well above the industry’s overall score of 78. Ease of understanding and managing accounts earned a score of 83, and customers were fairly satisfied with the availability of branches and ATMs, at 79 and 78, respectively.

Credit unions outpaced even smaller banks in the study, increasing their overall customer satisfaction rating 3.7 percent to 85. Credit union customers reported greater satisfaction with customer service and thought their credit unions offered more competitive interest rates, but at the same time, credit union customers also reported less satisfaction with the number of ATMs and branches available to them.