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BofA No. 1 in Keynova Group’s 2024 Online Credit Card Scorecard

Thursday, May 16, 2024 — 12:32:56 (EDT)

Wilmington, Del. May 16, 2024 – Keynova Group, the principal competitive intelligence source for digital financial services firms, today announced the results of the 2024 Online Credit Card Scorecard. Bank of America earned first place in the Scorecard for its online user experience in Keynova Group’s competitive evaluation of the 10 leading U.S. credit card issuers’ websites.

The Scorecard’s findings show that leading issuers are enhancing fraud mitigation in their online card application processes as well as adding new digital elements that facilitate lost/stolen card reporting and tracking. Issuers are also advancing their website assistant and chatbot capabilities to deliver a more consistent customer experience across channels.

“Credit card issuers are continuing to expand their digital services to meet cardholders' growing expectations for efficient self-servicing while also enriching features to impede fraud,” said Beth Robertson, managing director, Keynova Group. “Enhanced card lock and replacement card tracking tools are important fraud prevention measures that enable direct actions by cardholders, and issuers are also building fraud deterrence into card applications with options like interactive verification of a mobile number, email address, or bank account balances.”

Key Findings:

Issuers Streamline Credit Card Applications and Enhance Fraud Mitigation

Credit card issuers are continuing to refine the digital credit card application process, streamlining applicant entry and adding elements to prevent fraudulent applications and resulting card issuance. Over the last two years, half of the issuers assessed in the Scorecard have consolidated multi-page applications to a single page, and prefill options have evolved to allow key information to be provided without manual entry by the applicant. Most noticeably, 80% of issuers are building new fraud identification and reduction tools into their credit card applications. With online fraud a growing concern, 40% of issuers include interactive or immediate validation using actions such as one-time code entry, interactive bank account validation, and/or third-party verification of matching information. And half of issuers now require applicants to explicitly acknowledge Social Security Administration validation of matching name, date of birth, and SSN as supplied in the application. By reducing the potential for fraudulent card issuance, these verification methods enable approved cardholders at 30% of issuers to gain immediate access to their new credit card via a digital wallet.

Enriched Digital Tools for Lost/Stolen Cards Help Cardholders Track Replacements

Digital channels enable cardholders to take direct and immediate action when a card is lost, stolen, or damaged, and all the reviewed issuers now offer this feature. Overall, 70% of issuers provide a helpful card lock indicator on the authenticated landing page or credit card summary page, and 40% of issuers’ icons are interactive, enabling card lock/unlock capabilities to be easily accessed and completed directly from the icon. Since the distinct actions of locking a card and ordering a replacement card are often interrelated, sites that facilitate interaction between both activities are most efficient. While only 20% of issuers locate “replace a card” links directly with the lock icon on the authenticated landing page or card summary page, most other issuers offer a similar link from the card lock page. An additional 40% of issuers have introduced status tracking tools to help cardholders monitor the processing, shipping, and delivery of replacement cards. And half of issuers enable a new or virtual card number to be accessible for use in a digital wallet while a replacement card is being shipped.

Issuers’ Online Assistant and Chatbot Capabilities Continue to Evolve

To provide cardholders with similar experiences across online and mobile properties, many issuers are enhancing the competencies of their website assistants and chatbots to achieve closer parity with the sophisticated assistants often available in mobile apps. While 80% of credit card issuers offer a mobile virtual assistant or chatbot, 60% now offer a website assistant or chatbot to support the needs of credit card prospects and cardholders. Key capabilities include 40% of website assistants or chatbots that support card activation or display a card’s available credit, 30% that provide a cardholder’s credit score on request or report the cardholders’ current credit limit, and 20% supplying a list of merchant-specific card transactions or responding to an array of topics regarding card rewards. Emerging skills include website assistants that facilitate credit card transaction disputes, provide advance notice of large purchases, or sort card transactions by dollar amount or range.

About the Credit Card Scorecards

Keynova Group’s fact-based Online Credit Card Scorecard evaluates user-facing capabilities, customer experience elements, and best practices to identify evolving trends and insights that drive digital strategy for cardholder acquisition and servicing. The evaluation encompasses the websites of 10 leading U.S. credit card issuers: American Express, Bank of America, Barclays US, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, PNC, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The companion Mobile Credit Card Scorecard, released in Q4, reviews the mobile app and mobile web experience for this same group of issuers. For more information about Keynova Group’s Credit Card Scorecards, please visit www.keynovagroup.com/scorecards/#credit-cards-and-lending.

About Keynova Group

Keynova Group is the nation’s foremost competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis of consumer and small business digital financial services, including banking, credit card, home lending and insurance. Since 1999, Keynova Group’s Scorecards have served as the go-to source for leading financial services firms to obtain reliable competitive intelligence and actionable insights. The firm’s proven methodology and highly detailed results help its clients maximize the value of their digital channels to deliver a premier experience to customers and prospects.

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Blake Hiergesell

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Source: Company press release.