LONDON -- Retail banks in emerging markets saw increasing consumer confidence in 2010, according to a new report from Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four auditors.

The new report, titled A New Era of Customer Expectation, comes after Ernst & Young conducted a global survey of more than 20,500 global retail banking customers in 24 countries and found that trust in banks fell last year in countries hit hard by the economic crisis, despite efforts to rebuild consumer confidence.

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Among the total, 44 percent of customers worldwide showed declining confidence in the banking sector last year, the report said.

However, confidence from emerging markets, which went through the downturn in a better condition, has grown in the past year.

Almost 75 percent of customers in India say their trust in banks rose during 2010. In both Brazil and China, a majority of respondents say their confidence has grown or remained unchanged.

"In developed markets, customer confidence and trust in financial  institutions has been severely damaged by the economic crisis, and our findings show that it remains under threat. Emerging economies have suffered less from the credit crisis and recession and so their banks have seen trust endure," said Pierre Pilorge, Ernst & Young's Financial Services Customer Leader.

"In order to get back on track the survey clearly illustrates that banks in developed nations must rebuild customer confidence, enhance the customer experience and stem customer attrition," Pilorge added.

In contrast, levels of confidence are even lower in regions deeply affected by the financial crisis. The United States had 55-percent customers cut confidence in banks from a year ago, while Britain saw the largest drop in Europe of 63 percent in consumer confidence last year.