Findings indicate a sizable portion of U.S. consumers are experiencing some financial anxiety:<\/p>\n
–39% agreed with \u201cI am more anxious when spending money today than I was five years ago\u201d<\/p>\n
–29% agreed with \u201cI feel anxious about my current financial situation\u201d<\/p>\n
–20% agreed with \u201cMy level of debt is ruining the quality of my life\u201d<\/p>\n
Consumers rated their primary financial institutions (PFI) on three standardized CX questions measuring the degree to which they accomplished what they wanted to, how easy it was to interact with their PFI and how the interactions made the consumer feel.\u00a0 For all questions, consumers not anxious about their current financial situation gave significantly higher ratings than anxious consumers.\u00a0 In other words, anxious customers\/members \u201cding\u201d their PFIs by giving lower CX ratings.<\/strong><\/p>\n Most commonly cited concerns were (in descending order of importance):<\/p>\n –\u201cWorried about not knowing if I would be approved\u201d<\/p>\n –\u201cWorried my credit score would not be high enough\u201d<\/p>\n –\u201cWorried if borrowing money was the right choice for my situation\u201d<\/p>\n –\u201cConcerned I had too much debt already\u201d<\/p>\n –\u201cNot certain if I could afford payments\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LENDERS\u2019 ACTIONS TO REDUCE WORRIES DRIVE BORROWER LOYALTY HIGHER The leading concerns mentioned hint at ways credit unions can reduce borrowers\u2019 anxiety.\u00a0 Some examples include:<\/p>\n –Informing members of the pre-approved credit offers for which they qualify<\/p>\n –Providing members with free credit scores and simulators to show the impact of financial decisions on their credit score<\/p>\n –Counseling members on when not to borrow<\/p>\n –Providing members with access to debt-to-income and loan affordability calculators<\/p>\n This research leaves little doubt credit unions taking such actions will be rewarded.\u00a0 While this study focused on anxiety related to lending, it\u2019s easy to see how addressing members\u2019 worries related to saving, spending and managing money could improve members\u2019 perceptions of their credit union.<\/p>\n Banks and fintech startups are investing large sums on technology to improve functional elements of CX, such as speed, ease and convenience.\u00a0 Credit unions have a significant opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors by effectively reducing members\u2019 anxiety digitally. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n CUNA Mutual Group is the marketing name for CUNA Mutual Holding Company, a mutual insurance holding company, its subsidiaries and affiliates. Corporate headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n CORP-2598625.1-0619-0721<\/a> About the Author:<\/p>\n
\nMOST ARE WORRIED \/ STRESSED BEFORE AND DURING LOAN APPLICATION
\n<\/strong>We asked consumers who applied for a loan in the past 5 years what emotions they felt when 1) deciding to apply for a loan and 2) when completing the loan application.\u00a0 After pooling responses for both phases of the borrower journey, we found most borrowers (61%) stated they were anxious, stressed and\/or afraid at some point before or during the loan application process.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>We examined the relationship between lenders actions to reduce borrowers\u2019 anxiety, stress and\/or fears and two important customer loyalty metrics:\u00a0 likelihood to consider the lender for the next purchase and likelihood to recommend the lender to a friend\/family member.\u00a0 Loyalty ratings given by borrowers whose lenders took actions to reduce borrowers\u2019 stress were over 30 percentage points higher than loyalty ratings given by borrowers whose lenders did not.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nc-2019 CUNA Mutual Group<\/p>\n
![\"CUNA-M\"](\"http:\/\/www.ncultheaffiliate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CUNA-M.jpg\")
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