Do Consumers Actually Care About Their Credit Scores?

The following guest post was written by Caitlyn Ramey, Director of Marketing at First Bankcard, a division of First National Bank of Omaha

If anyone asked us whether consumers care about their credit scores, we at First Bankcard would say, “OF COURSE, they should care!” How else can they qualify for our company’s incredible financial products without understanding their FICO® Score and what they can do to improve it?

As I thought about this, however, it occurred to me that we might be a touch biased on that topic. So back in early 2013, when First Bankcard began to work with FICO to proactively provide our credit cardholders with their FICO® Scores through the FICO® Score Open Access program, we decided to actually ask our customers what they think.

We emailed a random sample of our credit cardholders a brief survey asking a few simple questions regarding their credit score. We asked whether or not they knew their credit score, how long it had been since they’d seen the score, if they would find value in getting their score for free each month and if they would share that experience with their family/friends.

There are two things that happen when you find out that the results of your customer research align with your theory:

1. You celebrate your solid gut instinct.
2. You celebrate that your customers want something you can provide.

The results showed us loud and clear that we had an opportunity to create value for our customers by providing them the FICO® Score we use to manage their accounts.

Of those who responded to the survey:

• 59 percent of consumers had not seen their credit score in at least the last six months (or never),
• Two-thirds indicated they would find value in getting their score for free, and
• 76 percent would share that experience with family/friends.

So, you could say, it’s a legitimately re-tweetable service.

First Bankcard started providing First National Bank of Omaha cardholders their scores online in October 2013, and the feedback has been extremely positive. Judging from the number of times our cardholders are checking their FICO® Scores on our website, yes...they DO care about their credit score.

I keep teasing my husband that no matter how many times he checks his FICO® Score on our website, mine will always still be higher. That’s legitimately re-tweetable too.