Banking and credit card customers complacent about fraud protection

Nearly three out of 10 banking customers (29 percent) and a quarter (24 percent) of credit card customers have experienced some sort of fraudulent activity on their accounts in the past 12 months. Yet many are not taking any proactive measures to safeguard their accounts. This is according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S Financial Protection Survey.

The study, released on Nov. 18, 2025, revealed that 23 percent of bank customers and 29 percent of credit card customers have taken no 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 do not recall their providers prompting them to take action on security measures, J.D. Power reported.

"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 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 percent) of bank customers and 55 percent of credit card customers do not recall recently being prompted by their providers to take action on security measures," White added. "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 option."

No such thing as too much protection

The U.S. Financial Protection Satisfaction Survey evaluates experiences of customers of the largest bank and credit card issuers regarding the account protection and fraud resolution services they provide.

Overall, banking account satisfaction is measured across four dimensions: security update and monitoring, communications, fraud resolution. and security settings. Credit card account protection satisfaction also is measured in four dimensions: security updates and monitoring, fraud resolution, security settings, and communication.

The study is based on responses from over 40,000 U.S. customers who have primary banking relationships with the largest banks and card issuers. Responses were collected from September 2024 through September 2025.

Following are some key findings of the study:

• Bank and credit card fraud disproportionately affect Gen Z. Forty-three percent of respondents have experienced some form of checking, savings or debit fraud, and 41 percent have experienced credit card fraud over the 12-month period surveyed. This is likely to result in this younger generation's increased use of debit cards and digital person-to-person payment apps, J.D. Power speculated.

• Many customers take no action to protect accounts. Nearly a quarter of bank customers and 29 percent 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 miss the mark. Half of bank customers (50 percent) and 55 percent 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.

• There is 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.

As fraud threats evolve, the study makes clear that stronger customer engagement and clearer prompts from providers will be essential to closing the protection gap.

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