Fraud Affected 29% of Bank Checking, Savings or Debit Account Holders and 24% of Credit Card Customers in Past 12 Months
Despite the fact that more than one-fourth (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 J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study,SM released today, 23% of bank customers and 29% of credit card customers have not taken any 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.
“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. 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,” said Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power. “Perhaps the biggest concern is that half (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.”
Following are some key findings of the 2025 study:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Methodology
The U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study evaluates the experiences of customers of the largest retail banks and credit card issuers regarding the account protection and fraud resolution services provided by their financial institutions. Overall banking account protection satisfaction is measured across four dimensions (listed in order of importance): security updates and monitoring; communication; fraud resolution; and security settings. Overall credit card account protection satisfaction is measured in four dimensions (listed in order of importance): security updates and monitoring; fraud resolution; security settings; and communication. The 2025 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.
Individual scores and rankings are not provided in this benchmarking study. Firms included in the study are (in alphabetical order):
American Express
Bank of America
Barclays
BMO
Capital One
Chase
Citi
Citizens Bank
Comerica Bank
Credit One Bank
Discover
Fifth Third Bank
First Citizens Bank
First Horizon Bank
Flagstar Bank
FNBO
Goldman Sachs
Huntington
KeyBank
M&T Bank
Merrick Bank
Navy Federal Credit Union
PNC
Premier Bankcard
Regions Bank
Santander
Synchrony
TD Bank
Truist
U.S. Bank
USAA
Wells Fargo