Category: Banking|Financial Services|PaymentsUnited States

More Consumers Using Buy Now Pay Later, JD Power Finds

2025-02-25

jillian.breska

TROY, Mich.: 27 Feb. 2025 — Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services saw continued growth in the number of consumers using them, with the highest usage among consumers from Generations Y¹ and Z. According to the JD Power 2025 U.S. Buy Now Pay Later Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, the number of consumers using BNPL products grew significantly year over year, especially during the holiday season.

“The BNPL segment has undoubtedly grown in popularity, with more customers using these services than ever before,” said Sean Gelles, senior director of banking and payments at JD Power. “That’s been especially true around seasonal periods of higher spending, such as the holidays. Card-based BNPL products continue to lead the charge on satisfaction, as issuers are leveraging their existing brand awareness and equity to retain would-be defectors.”

Following are some of the key findings of the 2025 study:

• Generations Y and Z turn to BNPL: Consumers that belong to Gens Y and Z are utilizing BNPL services the most. Nearly half (42%) of them used BNPL vs. 21% of consumers from other generations. In the study’s final wave—which included the 2024 holiday season—more consumers from Gen Z said they used BNPL instead of credit cards, which was the first such occurrence in the study’s history. These customers are particularly driven to find the most competitive repayment terms and are finding BNPL products to be an attractive alternative to credit cards.
• Gen Y consumers most satisfied: Customers that belong to Gen Y have the highest overall satisfaction with their BNPL lender (627) among generational cohorts. Gen Y customers cite the convenience, cost, a recommendation from a family member and trust with the brand as reasons that helped them choose their BNPL lender. Despite lower utilization (29%), Gen X customers gave BNPL the second-highest satisfaction marks (620). Gen Z was third (617).
• Card-based BNPL products perform well: Consumers continue to give higher marks to card-based BNPL services. The top three brands in the study are card-based solutions offered by legacy card issuers. Consumers have high satisfaction on most dimensions such as digital account management capabilities; security; and acceptance. They may also benefit from legacy brand affinity.
• Overall satisfaction significantly dips for two brands:  The two brands that saw the largest decline in satisfaction year over year were Zip and PayPal. These brands saw a 30-point and 35-point drop in satisfaction, respectively, which contributed to the 13-point decline in the study’s overall satisfaction.

Study Ranking

Plan It by American Express ranks highest in BNPL satisfaction, with a score of 706.  Chase (675) ranks second and Citi Flex Pay (663) ranks third.

The JD Power U.S. Buy Now Pay Later Satisfaction Study, now in its third year, is part of a group of four interconnected syndicated studies focused on the various forms of POS payment options. Its sister studies include the POS Choice Satisfaction Study;^SM Debit Card Satisfaction Study;^SM and Digital Wallet Satisfaction Study.^SM The 2025 Buy Now Pay Later Satisfaction Study captured the responses of 4,343 customers, and was fielded from February through January 2025.

For more information about the U.S. Consumer POS Payment Program, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/consumer-payments-satisfaction-studies.

About JD Power
JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

JD Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The JD Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Media Relations Contacts
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]
John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected] 

About JD Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

¹JD Power defines generational groups as Pre-Boomers (born before 1946); Boomers (1946-1964); Gen X (1965-1976); Gen Y (1977-1994); and Gen Z (1995-2007).

 

Many Small Businesses Add Card Payment Surcharges to Customer Purchases as Point-of-Sale Payment Methods Proliferate, JD Power Finds

2025-01-13

jillian.breska

TROY, Mich.: 14 Jan. 2025 — Small business owners are less optimistic than they were a year ago and, as they accept a wider variety of payment methods such as debit and credit cards, digital wallets, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and even cryptocurrency, many are applying surcharges to customer purchases. According to the JD Power 2025 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, 34% of merchants are adding surcharges for customer purchases made using credit cards. Accordingly, satisfaction with the overall cost of payment processing services among small businesses that implement these credit card surcharges is 24 points lower (on a 1,000-point scale) than among those that do not add a credit card surcharge.

“Small business owners are under pressure from both technological and economic perspectives, and as they continue to expand the number and type of payment options they accept, many are seeking more support and guidance from their merchant services providers and passing along their processing costs to customers,” said John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at JD Power. “And customers are paying attention. Many retail customers—specifically, 41% of credit card users—say they decided not to use a card payment method at a large or small business because of a surcharge.”

Following are key findings of the 2025 study:

• Business outlook and cost satisfaction strained: Fewer than half (45%) of small business owners say their company is better off financially than it was a year ago, down from 48% a year ago. Although satisfaction with cost is significantly lower among businesses that view themselves as worse off (508 for worse off vs. 692 for better off), small businesses that say they are better off are slightly more likely to levy surcharges on their retail customers.
• Growth in payment processing: Meanwhile, more sales than ever are being processed by third-party merchant services providers. A total of 65% of small business annual sales revenue was processed by merchant services providers in the 2025 study, up from 62% in 2024. Debit and credit cards continue to be the most popular forms of point-of-sale payment, accepted by 96% of small businesses. Digital wallets (90%); cash (81%); check (60%); and BNPL (52%) follow. Currently, 15% of merchants accept cryptocurrency, which is a significant drop from 20% in 2024.
• Many small businesses add surcharges for card purchases: With the increased reliance on payment processing comes increased service fees. For example, 34% of merchants now add a retail customer surcharge for credit card transactions. Processor pricing structure may have a role. Pricing based on a flat rate per transaction prompts significantly more merchants to add surcharges for credit cards. Newer and smaller merchants also are more likely to pass along these costs to their customers.
• Cash App Pay, Venmo, Apple Pay, Visa, Discover and Samsung Pay show significant gains in acceptance: The most widely accepted payment brands by small businesses are Visa (87%); Mastercard (82%); PayPal (73%); American Express (69%); Apple Pay (65%); and Discover (61%). Those brands showing the most significant growth in merchant acceptance in this year’s study are Cash App Pay (+8 percentage points); Venmo (+8); Apple Pay (+7); Visa (+6); Discover (+5) and Samsung Pay (+5).
• Data security/protection and advice/guidance emerge as areas for improvement: Specific areas in which small business satisfaction with merchant services providers declines most notably year over year are data security and protection and advice and guidance on running your business—both of which indicate businesses increasingly face growing pains about adopting new payment methods and desire for providers to deliver more hands-on support when payment fraud occurs. 

Study Ranking

Shopify ranks highest in merchant services satisfaction for a second consecutive year, with a score of 711. Chase Payment Solutions (709) ranks second and PayPal (708) ranks third.

The U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 3,841 small business customers of merchant services providers and measures satisfaction across six dimensions (in alphabetical order): advice and guidance on running your business; cost of processing payments; data security and protection; managing my account; payment processing; and quality of technology. The study was fielded from August through October 2024.

The brands evaluated are the U.S. merchant services providers with largest market shares. Overall satisfaction results reflect overall corporate results, meaning they can include the results of various sub-brands or alternate brand names that operate under the respective corporate brand names. In some cases, brands profiled also currently have or recently have had joint partnerships to provide merchant services to small business clients. 

For more information about the U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/merchant-services-satisfaction-study.

About JD Power
JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

JD Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The JD Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Media Relations Contacts
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]
John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected] 

About JD Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

 

Small Business Banking Customer Satisfaction Climbs as Economic Outlook Improves, JD Power Finds

2024-10-26

jillian.breska

TROY, Mich.: 29 Oct. 2024 — Small business owners are more optimistic about the future and more confident about their bank’s ability to help them meet their future needs. According to the JD Power 2024 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, overall customer satisfaction among small business owners has surged 20 points (on a 1,000-point scale) this year as economic outlooks continue to improve and banks have stepped up their game on problem resolution, people and financial health support.

“Small businesses are not out of the woods yet,” said Paul McAdam, senior director of banking and payments intelligence at JD Power. “Increased costs for material and labor are still very much a factor, and future business outlooks have still not risen to pre-pandemic levels, but we are seeing a strong trend toward optimism for the future. Many small businesses have come to see their banks as valuable partners in that journey. In many cases, banks have really doubled down on support for small businesses through tailored financial advice; improved customer support and problem resolution; and investments in training and staff to manage key relationships. These efforts are paying off in the form of significantly higher customer satisfaction scores.”

Following are some key findings of the 2024 study:

• Overall satisfaction rises in key areas: Overall satisfaction among small business banking customers has risen 20 points this year to 705, driven by dramatic improvements in problem resolution; branch and phone-based customer service and relationship managers; and guidance to improve the financial health of small businesses.
• Business outlook improves but challenges remain: Small business owners are feeling more optimistic about their outlook than they were at this time a year ago, with an overall business outlook score of 7.5 (on a 10-point scale). While this is a significant improvement from 2023, it is below pre-pandemic levels. Current business headwinds include increased costs for material and labor—which continues to negatively affect 53% of businesses—as well as a decline to 73% of small businesses that said their creditworthiness is excellent or very good, down from 75% in 2023.
• Small businesses highly receptive to financial advice: Overall satisfaction with financial health support increases 34 points this year as small business owners increasingly turn to their banks for information on how to reduce fees, maintain a manageable level of debt and improve their overall creditworthiness.
• Small business confidence with banks on the rise: The significant improvement in overall satisfaction scores in this year’s study is driven by a combination of variables working in concert. Small businesses say they have improved experiences with the personal service; technology; products and communication; and advice provided by their bank. Improvements in the timeliness and ease of using bank services are accompanied by a growing sense that the bank is proactive, personalized and supporting the business in challenging times.

Study Ranking

Capital One ranks highest nationally in small business banking customer satisfaction for a second consecutive year, with a score of 736. Chase (729) ranks second and Regions Bank (712) ranks third.

The 2024 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study measures satisfaction across seven factors (in order of importance): level of trust; people; allowing me to bank how and when I want; account offerings; helping me save time or money for my business; digital channels; and resolving problems or complaints. The study includes responses from 6,976 owners of—or financial decision-makers at—small businesses that use business banking services. The study was fielded from May through August 2024.

For more information about the U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/resource/us-small-business-banking-satisfaction-study.

About JD Power
JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

JD Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The JD Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Media Relations Contacts
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]
John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected]

About JD Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

 

Fraud Protection and Resolution Become Critical Components of Customer Experience for Banks and Credit Card Issuers, JD Power Finds

2024-11-05

jillian.breska

TROY, Mich.: 7 Nov. 2024 — More than one-fourth (29%) of bank customers and 22% of credit card customers have experienced some instance of fraudulent activity on their accounts in the past 12 months, according to the inaugural JD Power U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study,^SM released today. As financial fraud continues to escalate the way in which financial institutions play an active role in helping customers protect themselves as well as how they respond to incidents, the financial protection they provide has become a key component to overall customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and advocacy with those institutions.

The study evaluates the experiences of customers of the largest retail banks and credit card issuers with the account protection and fraud resolution services provided by their financial institutions.

“Financial fraud is a big problem for banks and credit card issuers, but it also presents an opportunity from a customer experience perspective when it is handled well,” said Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at JD Power. “In fact, customer likelihood to reuse their bank or credit card company and then recommend that entity to friends is actually higher after an institution helps prevent or resolves a fraud incident than when there is no fraud incident at all. However, many institutions still have a lot of work to do when it comes to educating customers on how to protect themselves.”

Following are some key findings of the inaugural study:

• Bank and credit card fraud affects many, especially younger customers: Overall, 29% of bank customers and 22% 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. Among bank customers under age 40, 42% have experienced some form of checking, savings or debit fraud in the past 12 months.
• Fraud prevention and resolution efforts rewarded by customers: Nearly half (46%) of bank customers and 49% of credit card customers say they have a more positive impression of their bank or credit card issuer after experiencing an instance of fraud, and 92% of bank customers say they are likely to reuse their bank after experiencing a fraud issue and having it resolved.
• Customers want to help fight fraud, but many do not know how: More than one-fourth (26%) of bank customers and 31% of credit card customers say they have not taken any recent measures to secure their account. Among those who have taken proactive measures, the most frequently used strategy is reviewing recent transactions for suspicious activity, which is not preventative. When it comes to true fraud prevention tactics, such as adding two-factor authentication, setting up account alerts or using face ID or fingerprint authentication to log into accounts, are being taken by customers no more than 20% of the time.
• Banks and credit card issuers need to be more proactive: Among bank customers, 46% say they’ve been prompted by their bank to act on fraud prevention measures in the past 90 days. That number falls to just 40% among credit card customers.

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

The U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study measures the experiences of customers of the largest retail banks and credit card issuers with the account protection and fraud resolution services provided by their financial institutions. Customer satisfaction with account protection is based on communication; fraud resolution; security settings and security updates; and monitoring. Customer satisfaction with fraud resolution is based on ease of resolution; helpfulness; timeliness; and concern for my needs. The study is based on 22,982 responses across the four modules and was fielded from March through September 2024.

For more information about the U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/financial-protection-satisfaction-study. 

About JD Power
JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

JD Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The JD Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Media Relations Contacts
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]
John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected] 

About JD Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

 

Bank and Credit Card Apps and Websites Struggle to Find Ways to Stand Out as User Experience Becomes Increasingly Homogenized, JD Power Finds

2024-05-28

jillian.breska

TROY, Mich.: 30 May 2024 — The good news: the nation’s banks and credit card providers have done a great job establishing best practices for a seamless, efficient digital user experience on their mobile apps and websites. The bad news: with limited differentiation between brands, it’s become challenging to distinguish and drive meaningful digital customer relationships. According to a series of recent studies of bank and credit card mobile app and online users, released today by JD Power, the one area in which banks and credit card providers can still drive meaningful, unique digital customer experiences is through personalized financial management tools and the use of digital assistants.

The studies—JD Power 2024 U.S. Banking Mobile App Satisfaction Study;^SM JD Power 2024 U.S. Online Banking Satisfaction Study;^SM JD Power 2024 U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction Study;^SM and JD Power 2024 U.S. Online Credit Card Satisfaction Study^SM—track overall customer satisfaction with banking and credit card providers’ digital offerings.

“As mobile apps and websites increasingly become customers’ primary point of repeat interaction with their banks and credit card providers, it’s important that they offer a seamless, easy-to-use experience, but it is also important that they confer a level of unique brand identity and personalization,” said Jennifer White, senior director of banking and payments intelligence at JD Power. “The area in which banks and credit card providers have the largest opportunity to deliver that personalized connection to customers is through highly targeted personal financial management tools and the use of virtual assistants that help guide customers through key functions.”

Following are some key findings of the 2024 studies:

• Room for growth in personal financial management: While the gap in overall customer satisfaction between top- and bottom-ranked bank and credit card apps and websites has narrowed considerably, the one area in which there is still a great deal of performance variability is in personal financial management tools. Use of credit score monitoring, spending analysis categorization and budgeting tools have a significant effect on customer satisfaction—but execution and use varies by provider.
• Virtual assistants gain traction with younger customers: While overall use of virtual assistants is still relatively low across both credit card and banking customers, it has grown steadily during the past three years, particularly among younger customers. Most common functions executed through virtual assistants include checking account balances, making payments, finding transactions and transferring money.
• P2P payments and transfers increase in adoption: Bank efforts to enhance the person-to-person payments and transfers process on their websites and mobile apps have been paying off in the form of steadily increased usage. Nearly one-third (31%) of U.S. national bank customers are now using person-to-person payments and transfers on their bank’s mobile app, up from 29% in 2023 and 25% in 2022.

Study Rankings

Capital One ranks highest in banking mobile app satisfaction among national banks, with a score of 678 (on a 1,000-point scale). Bank of America (662) ranks second and Chase (656) ranks third.

TD Bank ranks highest in online banking satisfaction among national banks, with a score of 672. Capital One (671) ranks second and Wells Fargo (668) ranks third.

American Express and Bank of America rank highest in a tie in credit card mobile app satisfaction, each with a score of 675. Discover (673) ranks third.

American Express ranks highest in online credit card satisfaction, with a score of 671. Discover (668) ranks second and Wells Fargo (664) ranks third.

M&T Bank ranks highest in banking mobile app satisfaction among regional banks, with a score of 636. Citizens Bank (634), Fifth Third Bank (634) and KeyBank (634) each rank second in a tie.

Regions Bank ranks highest in online banking satisfaction among regional banks, with a score of 643. Huntington (642) ranks second and Fifth Third Bank (638) ranks third.

The U.S. Banking Mobile App Satisfaction, U.S. Online Banking Satisfaction, U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction and U.S. Online Credit Card Satisfaction studies measure overall satisfaction with banking and credit card digital channels based on four factors: navigation; speed; visual appeal; and information/content. The 2024 studies are based on responses from 17,843 retail bank and credit card customers nationwide and were fielded in February-March 2024.

To learn more about these studies, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/resource/us-banking-and-us-credit-card-mobile-app-satisfaction-studies.

About JD Power
JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

JD Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The JD Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

Media Relations Contacts
Geno Effler, JD Power; West Coast; 714-621-6224; [email protected]
John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200; [email protected]

About JD Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info