Survey: Consumers manage debt well

“Consumers aren’t given the credit they deserve,” said Nessa Feddis, ABA senior federal counsel, in an Aug. 16 news release. “The survey shows that, contrary to popular opinion, consumers manage debt well, avoid fees and trust their banks.”

The ABA-commissioned study of 1,000 consumers, conducted July 23-24 by Ipsos Reid, examined consumer banking habits and opinions related to timely issues facing financial services customers.

Personal information

At a time when data security issues dominate the news headlines, the majority of consumers indicate that they trust banks more than other industries when it comes to their personal financial information.

Forty-eight percent of consumers identified banks as the most trustworthy. Fourteen percent trust the stock brokerage and mutual funds industry the most, 12 percent trust the real estate industry, and 9 percent have the most confidence in the insurance industry.

Retailers and online merchants garnered 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Thirteen percent said they trust no industry.

Credit card payments

According to survey results, rising credit card minimum payments will not create a hardship for the vast majority of credit card customers.

Forty-two percent pay off their credit card balances in full each month. While one-third of consumers carry a balance on their credit cards, they pay more than the minimum amount. Six percent of customers on occasion make minimum payments. And just 4 percent pay only the minimum due each month.

Paper or plastic?

Almost half of responding consumers choose plastic over paper for everyday purchases, with 31 percent choosing debit cards and 18 percent preferring credit cards.

Thirty-seven percent of consumers choose cash more often, and 14 percent still use checks.

Forty-six percent of consumers say they use debit cards more often than checks for everyday purchases because they are faster and more convenient.

Thirty-eight percent indicated that they prefer to pay as they go using debit cards rather than credit cards.

Bank fees

According to the survey, 65 percent of consumers spend $3 or less in monthly fees for banking services such as checking account maintenance and automated teller machine access, which is consistent with the findings of previous ABA surveys conducted 1998–2005.

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