Survey: More Than Half of UK Consumers Would Switch Banks if Theirs Was Involved in a Money Laundering Scandal

London, 17 May 2022 –

The latest research from global analytics software provider FICO suggests that UK banks could face a potentially catastrophic customer defection event in the wake of a money laundering scandal. 

Highlights:

• More than half of Brits would switch account provider if it was involved in a money laundering scandal
• 20 percent of 25 to 34 year-olds do not believe banks are fair when customers have been tricked by fraudsters
• 15 percent of cardholders believe current measures taken by banks on credit or debit card fraud are not fair; but 32 percent don’t know if banks are fair
• 15 percent of UK consumers do not believe banks are fair when dealing with customers who have been victims of account take-over

56 percent of UK respondents said they would switch banks if theirs was reported to be involved in such a scandal. The younger age groups would be most eager to swap their financial service provider in the aftermath of a money laundering scandal: 64 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds would switch, as would 68 percent of 25 to 34 year-olds.  

“There have been several high-profile money laundering scandals in the last few years, and consumers have clearly had enough,” said Matt Cox, vice president and general manager, EMEA, FICO. “This raises the stakes for banks and means that powerful controls are more crucial than ever.”

Banks Also Have Opportunity to Improve Fraud Response Efforts
FICO’s survey also showed that some work may need to be done by banks to improve how consumers perceive the support offered in fraud cases. 

While over half of survey respondents think it’s fair how banks deal with customers who have been victims of fraud on their credit or debit cards, this still leaves 16 million cardholders who don’t know whether current measures are fair or believe they are unfair. This suggests there could actually be a strong marketing opportunity for those institutions that want to highlight how well they look after fraud victims.
More information:  

• Digital Consumer Banking and Fraud Survey – Global Results 
• Digital Consumer Banking and Fraud Survey – UK Results Ebook 

Those in the Millennials generation – aged 25-34 - appear to be the least impressed with banks’ current approaches to fraud. When asked about account takeover, 19 percent thought banks were not fair. And when considering cases of customers being tricked into sending money to fraudsters, 21 percent of them thought measures were not fair.

Curiously, respondents were not as worried about being tricked into sending payments to criminals as they were about other types of fraud. Only 6 percent of all those surveyed were most worried about being scammed, despite the fact that £355.3 million was lost to these scams in the first half of 2021.  

“The rise of scams during the pandemic has been truly frightening,” said Cox. “This is creating a challenge for banks, which need to walk the line between stopping scams and enabling a smooth customer experience during financial transactions.” 

Cox added: “Whilst a relatively low number of customers in our survey said they thought banks’ management of fraud cases was unfair, a much higher proportion did not know if banks were fair. This may signal an opportunity for some positive marketing by those institutions that are already investing in the latest analytics to detect scams.” 
FICO surveyed 1,000 UK consumers aged 18 to 85 as part of a global survey in late 2021. The survey also included consumers in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and the USA. 

For further comment contact:  
FICO UK PR Team  
Parm Heer Mobile:07436 885753  
Matthew Enderby Mobile: 07788 257107  
Wendy Harrison Mobile: 07850 372469 or email ficoteam@harrisonsadler.com  
  
About FICO  
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 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 120 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.  
Learn more at https://www.fico.com  
  
FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.