TROY, Mich.— Despite the fact 29% of bank customers and 24% of credit card customers have experienced some instance of fraudulent activity on their accounts in the past 12 months, many are “still not taking any proactive measures” to safeguard their accounts, according to the new J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study.
The analysis found that a significant percentage of consumers have not taken even the simplest of security measures, such as reviewing their accounts, updating passwords or adding multi-factor authentication to their accounts in the past 90 days.
In most cases, these customers don’t recall their providers prompting them to take action on security measures, J.D. Power said.
“Financial institutions are spending billions on cybersecurity to address the constant threat of fraud, but there’s only so much they can do on their own,” the company stated.
‘Missing the Mark’
“Customers really need to do their part by making use of the various tools provided to protect their accounts, but many are still not aware of the resources that are out there to help them,” Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “Perhaps the biggest concern is that 50% of bank customers and 55% of credit card customers do not recall recently being prompted by their providers to take action on security measures. Customer awareness is key to a strong fraud defense and bank and credit card providers seem to be missing the mark on ensuring their customers are aware of their options.”
The Key Findings
According to J.D. Power, some key findings of the 2025 study include:
- Bank and credit card fraud disproportionately affects Gen Z: Overall, 29% of bank customers and 24% of credit card customers have experienced some form of financial fraud on their accounts in the past 12 months, with many experiencing more than one instance of fraud in that period. Fraud is most prevalent among members of Gen Z,1 in which 43% have experienced some form of checking, savings or debit fraud and 41% have experienced credit card fraud in the past 12 months. “This is likely the result of this younger generation’s increased use of debit cards and digital person-to-person payment (P2P) apps,” J.D. Power said.
- Many customers take no action to protect accounts: Nearly one-fourth (23%) of bank customers and 29% of credit card customers have taken no proactive security measures to protect their accounts in the past 90 days. The most common protective measures include reviewing recent transactions, updating mobile apps and passwords and setting up account alerts.
- Account security prompts missing the mark: Half (50%) of bank customers and 55% of credit card customers have not been prompted by their providers to act on security measures in the past 90 days. The most common prompts are reminders to set up multi-factor authentication and to update passwords, J.D. Power said.
- No such thing as too much protection: Overall satisfaction scores are largely consistent in two metrics, one when customers perceive the level of security offered by their bank or credit card provider as just right and another when they perceive them as burdensome. Those satisfaction scores fall sharply, however, when security is perceived as lacking, according to the company.
Methodology
The U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 40,197 customers in the United States who have a primary banking relationship with a qualifying bank or a primary credit card relationship with a qualifying credit card issuer. Responses were collected from September 2024 through September 2025.
For additional information, go here.
