The purpose of this paper is to compare customers’ expectations of bank services at two points in time, 2007 and 2013. To collect data, a questionnaire was designed based on extensive literature review and 30 interviews of bank managers and mature investors. A total of 640 and 396 questionnaires in 2007 and 2013 were distributed respectively among bank customers in 12 districts of Mashhad, the second largest city in Iran. To analyze data, factor analysis method and independent-sample T Test were performed.The results showed that the importance of service quality in banking sectors has meaningfully changed between 2007 and 2013. While three factors of access to bank facilities, information, and technology increased their importance, three factors of human, bank branches accessibility and queuing were less important, as criteria for choosing a bank in 2013. It is concluded that banks in a centrally planned economy gain competitive advantages by improving their technology, information technology infrastructures, and loan facilities.

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