Survey Finds that US Banks Effectively Communicated with Customers During the Coronavirus Pandemic
The pandemic has had a significant financial impact on households across the country. While almost half of consumers in the US remained fully employed during the pandemic, almost a quarter said they were not at all or not very confident about their finances remaining stable in the next three months. In fact, 42 percent of consumers said they had to contact one of their financial services providers to help manage repayment of existing credit commitments since the start of COVID-19.
"2020 has been a challenge for all, with a large percentage of consumers struggling to pay their bills. Banks and financial service providers play a critical role in helping their customers navigate these uncertain times," said
Credit card commitments were the primary reason consumers reached out to their financial service providers to help manage repayment, with 48 percent of respondents having had to reach out to their credit card provider. This was followed by mobile phone service at 21 percent and auto loans at 20 percent.
Financial service providers were quick to provide support during this time, with the majority of consumers able to arrange a payment holiday within 2-3 days of the option being announced. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of respondents noted how easy it was to get a hold of their providers to arrange a payment holiday or other arrangement to manage their existing debts, with auto loans (93 percent) and online loans (91 percent) being the easiest, followed by credit cards (88 percent), personal loans (86 percent) and mortgages (84 percent).
Interestingly, while households with the highest incomes of
Communication method was a key driver for why there was such a high level of satisfaction among consumers with the level of support their banks provided. Fifty-one percent of respondents cited good choice of communication methods as the reason for their satisfaction.
"By delivering improved customer engagement and communications, financial service providers have helped many customers across the US navigate an unprecedented crisis. At the end of the day, the investment banks made in their customer communications have proven to be invaluable in fostering good-will and customer loyalty," added
[1] The research was conducted on behalf of FICO by Censuswide, between
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Greg Jawski for FICO, Email: greg.jawski@porternovelli.com, Phone: +1 212-601-8248