Opening an account at a financial institution is an important decision for customers. Choosing the type of financial institution is as important, so that the customer's needs are met with satisfaction, generating a win-win relationship. The present paper was developed to clarify differences between financial institutions and cooperatives and to elucidate whether customers understand the difference between a cooperative and a bank. Initially, it detailed theories on the financial market, consumer behavior and services and bank marketing, followed by the conduction of a survey on the attributes that customers value when selecting a financial institution. The survey was made through printed questionnaires, which were responded by 134 people from the general public. Most respondents were from the city of Nova Petrópolis. Results showed satisfactory outcomes for cooperative institutions, with 100% agreement in some items, such as, for example, fulfilling its promises and how pleasant the environment is. It was also possible to validate aspects that are considered crucial in choosing the institution, such as high quality – with prominence to cooperatives –, whose perception outweighs tangible aspects, demonstrating that monetary factors are important, but not the most important aspect. The results were enlightening, providing distinguished results between the institutions under research, enabling the objectives of the present study to be achieved. Finally, we made some considerations on the analysis and some recommendations for future research. The main recommendation was the use of this research both for banks and for cooperatives, however expanding the sample.
