FICO Survey: People in Mexico Want Reminders about Late Payments via Email, Not Phone Calls

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — November 22, 2017

A new survey by Silicon Valley analytics firm FICO found that one-third of Mexican consumers prefer late payment reminders from their bank to arrive via e-mail, and they would like banks to stop calling their mobile phones.

Currently, 23 percent of consumers said that banks call their mobile phones, and a further 17 percent receive calls to their landline. However these were amongst the least preferred channels amongst those surveyed, at 11 percent and 7 percent respectively.

In terms of how they would preferred to be contacted, e-mail was first (33 percent) followed by text messages (29 percent) and then app notifications (13 percent). The survey shows that Mexican lenders are matching the consumer preference for email (primary channel for 24 percent of consumers) but are underutilizing it along with the other digital channels.

More information: http://www.fico.com/es/debt-management/collection-communications

Alexandre Graff, FICO vice president for Latin America, stated that: “Consumers want to see late payment reminders via email and text message much more and via phone calls a lot less than they currently do. It’s important to note, though, that each consumer has different preferences, and the challenge for banks is to maintain the ability to use those preferences, not just apply one standard approach to all its customers.”

The survey also found that:

• One in four consumers stated that they would be more likely to answer a message about a debt or late payment if a reduction or restructuring of the debt were included.
• One in four consumers would prefer to make a payment using a mobile app when responding to a late payment reminder.
• 38 percent of Mexican consumers usually make payment to their bank by directly transferring money from their bank account.
• In terms of consumer preferences for social networks and instant messaging, more than half of those surveyed stated that they use WhatsApp most frequently (59 percent), followed by Facebook (31 percent) and Facebook Messenger (27 percent).
• Importantly Mexican consumers don’t see social channels as appropriate for banks. Nearly half of those surveyed (45 percent) stated that they feel uncomfortable receiving late payment reminders via social networks or chat services. However, consumers in Mexico are more comfortable with this idea than people from other countries surveyed.

“Given the competitive nature of the financial services market in Mexico, customer preferences are determined by the level of service they receive, using specific knowledge of their behavior, likes and preferences,” said Graff. “Through initiatives like this survey, we are focusing on helping decision makers find the best way to communicate with their users, in addition to determining what areas require innovation to achieve this goal.”

FICO surveyed 3,600 consumers, 18+ years of age, in nine countries around the globe between June and August 2017.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 180 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time.

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the US and other countries.

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