Financial institutions that treated customers best — and worst — during the pandemic
Americans had the most trouble with credit reporting agencies and banks — but they were mostly happy with lenders.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced financial institutions around the country to close their doors, shift to virtual services and review their processes. In doing that, it also presented new and unique challenges, and customer complaints are on the rise as a result.
The US declared the coronavirus a national emergency on March 13th — which is when complaints started to spike.
Before the announcement, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received an average of 7,750 complaints per week between January and March. Afterwards, the number of complaints rose by 25% to an average of 9,698 per week until mid-June, according to consumer complaint data for the year to date released by the CFPB on July 16th.
The sectors hit hardest by the pandemic
Customers submitted the most complaints about prepaid cards, international money transfers and credit reporting during that timeframe.
Other sectors weathered the pandemic much better. Student loan complaints actually dropped by 24%, and payday loans by 5%. Debt collection complaints stayed the same.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act could explain this. Passed on March 27th, the CARES Act suspended payments on federal student loans and paid out stimulus checks, easing the financial burden on Americans with outstanding loans or debt.
But it also explains why some sectors suffered. For example, many credit agencies reported missed payments and loan defaults, which led to consumers complaining about their credit scores dropping. And many consumers said their banks placed a hold on their Economic Impact Payments if their account was overdrawn, which means they couldn’t access their stimulus funds.
Table 1. The products and services that fared the worst in the pandemic, ranked by % change
| Product or service | Average number of complaints per week during COVID-19 (3/13/2020-6/13/2020) | The % change before and after the national emergency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prepaid card | 186 | 105% |
| 2 | Money transfer or service, virtual currency | 241 | 43% |
| 3 | Credit or consumer reporting | 5,470 | 42% |
| 4 | Credit card | 738 | 17% |
| 5 | Vehicle loan and lease | 177 | 15% |
| 6 | Title loan | 13 | 13% |
| 7 | Credit repair | 19 | 13% |
| 8 | Personal loan | 98 | 9% |
| 9 | Checking or savings account | 556 | 6% |
| 10 | Mortgage | 560 | 5% |
Table 2. The products and services that fared the best during the pandemic, ranked by % change
| Product or service | Average number of complaints per week during COVID-19 (3/13/2020-6/13/2020) | The % change before and after the national emergency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student loan | 126 | -24% |
| 2 | Payday loan | 33 | -5% |
| 3 | Debt collection | 1,481 | 0% |
Companies with the highest number of complaints in 2020
Let’s zoom out to look at 2020 as a whole. Credit reporting agencies received the most complaints, with Experian, TransUnion and Equifax taking the top three spots on the list of nearly 6,000 companies.
Consumers filed 31,616 complaints against Experian this year, a huge jump from 14,212 in 2019. TransUnion more than doubled its complaints, while Equifax experienced a 70.9% increase in complaints. Despite the sheer volume of complaints, it’s worth nothing that all three agencies got a perfect score in terms of timely responses.
Credit reporting agencies aside, major banks rounded out the top 10 list, including Capital one, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citibank and Bank of America.
Table 3. The 25 companies with the most complaints in 2020
| Company | The number of complaints in 2020 (3/17/20–8/3/20) | The number of complaints in 2019 (3/17/19–8/3/19) | The % increase in complaints between 2019 & 2020 | The % of complaints that had a timely response | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Experian Information Solutions Inc. | 31,616 | 14,212 | 122.46% | 100% |
| 2 | TransUnion | 31,198 | 15,320 | 103.64% | 100% |
| 3 | Equifax | 27,194 | 15,909 | 70.93% | 100% |
| 4 | Capital One | 3,631 | 2,858 | 27.05% | 100% |
| 5 | J.P. Morgan Chase & Co | 3,492 | 3,354 | 4.11% | 100% |
| 6 | Citibank | 3,270 | 2,745 | 19.13% | 100% |
| 7 | Bank of America | 3,141 | 3,056 | 2.78% | 99.71% |
| 8 | PNC Bank | 2,833 | 605 | 368.26% | 100% |
| 9 | Wells Fargo | 2,704 | 3,142 | -13.94% | 98.71% |
| 10 | Synchrony Financial | 1,624 | 1,894 | -14.26% | 100% |
| 11 | American Express Company | 1,324 | 1,092 | 21.25% | 100% |
| 12 | U.S. Bancorp | 1,282 | 957 | 33.96% | 100% |
| 13 | Alliance Data Card Services | 1,041 | 1,039 | 0.19% | 99.9% |
| 14 | Portfolio Recovery Associates | 999 | 888 | 12.5% | 100% |
| 15 | PayPal | 936 | 622 | 50.48% | 99.57% |
| 16 | Discover Bank | 906 | 828 | 9.42% | 100% |
| 17 | Shellpoint Partners | 826 | 365 | 126.3% | 98.67% |
| 18 | TD Bank | 800 | 724 | 10.5% | 100% |
| 19 | Navient Solutions, LLC. | 797 | 1,440 | -44.65% | 100% |
| 20 | Barclays Bank | 671 | 523 | 28.3% | 100% |
| 21 | Truist Financial Corporation | 667 | 0 | 66,700% | 99.7% |
| 22 | Ocwen Financial Corporation | 652 | 536 | 21.64% | 99.85% |
| 23 | Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. | 635 | 512 | 24.02% | 100% |
| 24 | United Services Automobile Association | 631 | 534 | 18.16% | 100% |
| 25 | ERC | 623 | 497 | 25.35% | 100% |
What consumers complained about the most in 2020
Of the 187,000 complaints submitted to the CFPB in 2020, 8,357 of those mentioned the coronavirus — indicating that customers are unsatisfied with the way financial institutions have handled the pandemic. Over 70,000 complaints related to incorrect credit reporting, and another 21,740 consumers said they had issues with how credit agencies investigated errors and other problems.
Beyond credit reporting, more than 10,000 customers had to deal with debt collectors for debt they didn’t owe, and nearly 6,000 had trouble managing their account.
The economic strain on consumers during COVID-19 shows up in the report, too, with 2,145 struggling to pay their mortgage and 1,430 complaining about high fees and interest charges. And 1,362 ended up taking or threatening to take legal action against their financial institutions.
Interestingly, some issues improved year-on-year. For example, fewer customers experienced problems with the payment process or getting a credit card. And only 1,224 customers complained about the way their financial institutions communicated with them, a 38.8% drop from 2019 — which speaks to how banks, credit unions and loan services pivoted their communication strategies during the pandemic.
To put these numbers into context, the CFPB has supervisory authority over banks and credit unions with assets over $10 billion, and mortgage, payday and private student loan lenders of all sizes. It also polices other consumer financial markets, including debt collectors, international money transfer services and credit reporting agencies.
Table 4. The top 25 issues consumers faced in 2020
| Issue | The number of 2020 complaints (3/17/20–8/3/20) | The number of 2019 complaints (3/17/19–8/3/19) | The % increase in complaints between 2019 & 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Incorrect information on your report | 71,495 | 34,701 | 106.03% |
| 2 | Problem with a credit reporting company’s investigation into an existing problem | 21,740 | 12,831 | 69.43% |
| 3 | Attempts to collect debt not owed | 10,533 | 9,040 | 16.52% |
| 4 | Managing an account | 5,894 | 5,453 | 8.09% |
| 5 | Improper use of your report | 5,395 | 4,985 | 8.22% |
| 6 | Written notification about debt | 4,023 | 3,719 | 8.17% |
| 7 | Trouble during payment process | 3,966 | 4,535 | -12.55% |
| 8 | Problem with a purchase shown on your statement | 3,363 | 2,472 | 36.04% |
| 9 | Struggling to pay mortgage | 2,145 | 2,599 | -17.47% |
| 10 | False statements or representation | 1,696 | 1,548 | 9.56% |
| 11 | Fees or interest | 1,430 | 1,195 | 19.67% |
| 12 | Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage | 1,414 | 916 | 54.37% |
| 13 | Unable to get your credit report or credit score | 1,402 | 1,320 | 6.21% |
| 14 | Took or threatened to take negative or legal action | 1,362 | 1,768 | -22.96% |
| 15 | Other features, terms or problems | 1,278 | 1,237 | 3.31% |
| 16 | Communication tactics | 1,224 | 2,000 | -38.8% |
| 17 | Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes | 1,205 | 1,028 | 17.22% |
| 18 | Closing an account | 1,172 | 970 | 20.82% |
| 19 | Problem when making payments | 1,134 | 1,147 | -1.13% |
| 20 | Dealing with your lender or servicer | 1,078 | 1,959 | -44.97% |
| 21 | Fraud or scam | 965 | 844 | 14.34% |
| 22 | Closing your account | 891 | 735 | 21.22% |
| 23 | Problem getting a card or closing an account | 837 | 123 | 580.49% |
| 24 | Getting a credit card | 832 | 1,009 | -17.54% |
| 25 | Opening an account | 815 | 777 | 4.89% |
Photo: CFPB
