Customers Unimpressed with Digital Card Services

Customers’ overall satisfaction with digital channels has declined as usage has increased, according to US consumer research firm JD Power.

The company tracked overall customer satisfaction with banking and credit card providers’ digital channels. Capital One ranked highest in banking mobile app satisfaction among national banks, while Chase ranked second and Wells Fargo ranked third.

However, JD Power found that overall customer satisfaction declined across nearly all channels it surveyed.

While satisfaction increased slightly for national bank websites, scores declined for mobile apps, credit card mobile apps, credit card websites, and regional bank mobile apps and websites.

The biggest decline in satisfaction related to national banks’ mobile apps.

Jennifer White, senior consultant for banking and payment intelligence at JD Power, said: “We’re seeing a lot of volatility in customer satisfaction scores in the digital banking and credit card space driven by a combination of heightened customer expectations for what a digital experience should look like.

“Based on their experiences with other consumer apps and websites that anticipate their needs and offer a highly personalized customer experience, bank and credit card customers are expecting more from their digital solutions. The tough economic climate has amped up the urgency of those expectations.”

In addition, JD Power found that the percentage of consumers defined as “financially healthy” fell to 43% of respondents, down from 53% less than a year earlier. On top of this, the percentage of consumers identified as “financially vulnerable” increased to 32% from 25%.

The results come as other research has shown that the rise of digital banking and payments has led to spike in attempted fraud. Research from financial security consultancy NICE Actimize found that fraud attempts jumped by 41% last year.