The passage suggests which of the following about service provided by the regional bank prior to its investment in enhancing that service？

A. It enabled the bank to retain customers at an acceptable rate
B. It threatened to weaken the bank’s competitive position with respect to other regional banks
C. It had already been improved after having caused damage to the bank’s reputation in the past.
D. It was slightly superior to that of the bank’s regional competitors.
E. It needed to be improved to attain parity with the service provided by competing banks.