J. D. Power Financial Health Support Certification – Banking & Payments

J.D. Power is pleased to offer the J. D. Power Financial Health Support Certification – Banking & Payments. In addition to providing an assessment of performance compared to recommended best practices and voice of the customer research, the program also enables recognition for outstanding customer satisfaction with financial health support for eligible banks and credit card issuers achieving top quintile performance against industry benchmarks, as well as operational best practices.

J.D. Power measures the financial health of any consumer as a metric combining their spending/savings ratio, creditworthiness, and safety net items like insurance coverage. Consumers are placed on a continuum from healthy to vulnerable. Financial institutions have the ability to personalize content, product and services to attract consumers based on offerings or support relevant to that consumer financial health. To be best in class at supporting a consumer’s financial health means a financial institution has support services or products such as literacy programs, tools/programs/products which aide in managing money or reducing debt, and rewards for improved behavior.

The J.D. Power Financial Health and Advice Program explores the financial literacy and wellness of retail customers and provides insights to help financial institutions better target education, support and tools that improve customer financial health. It is designed to segment and profile banking customers based on financial health and to assess how well their primary institution is addressing the needs of each segment. This program helps banks and issuers optimize advisory and account opening initiatives using insights about priority customer segments, prominent customer financial-advisory needs, and methods of customer engagement that build trust.

Countries: United States and Canada

Who is eligible?         

United States based banks with $55B or more in FDIC deposits and Credit Card issuers with more than two hundred and seventy-five thousand active accounts. Active accounts are defined as card usage within the last three months.

The five largest Canadian banks and credit card issuers as determined by the most recent version of the market share data from the J.D. Power GBI Market Share Screener study.

What are the criteria on which certification is based?       

VOC is based on primary data collection among client supplied sample. J.D. Power programs and hosts an online survey that mimics the benchmark established for this work. Clients will sample both bank and card customers (as applicable) according to J.D. Power requirements and deploy a survey invitation. The results from this primary research survey are compared to the bank and card combined benchmark established in the J.D. Power Financial Health & Advice Survey published each year annually in June.

Best Practices established in collaboration with the Financial Health Network

What is required to become certified under the J. D. Power Financial Health Support Certification – Banking & Payments?

To become certified, companies must do the following:

1. The VOC research must score above the 80th percentile of the annual J.D. Power Banking and Credit Card Financial Health Study, which measures the financial health support services received from their bank and/or card issuer. The 80th percentile score is derived from using the J.D. Power Financial Health Syndicated study as the benchmark, which evaluates the satisfaction with the advice, guidance, products/services, and interactive tools of U.S. and Canadian banks and credit card issuers facilitating customers’ financial health. The benchmark is refreshed, and scores published in June annually. This annual research program fields each January/February and captures more than 17,000 US plus 6,000 CA banking related survey responses and more than 14,000 US and 4,200 CA credit card related survey responses.

2. Score 80% or higher on an independent audit of their operational performance. This audit includes three tactical exercises: a review of internal documentation, demonstrations of tools or products, and financial institution interviews. These exercises aim to assess operational performance in four primary categories: Infrastructure, Performance, Solutions, and Vision. There are 104 operational criteria drawn and assessed from established operational data sources. To pass this component, a company must demonstrate they have achieved at least 84 of the 104 criteria.

When is this conducted?      

Banks and card issuers enroll in the program on a rolling basis throughout the year. Certifications are earned as program requirements are met and are valid for 12 months.

What is required for renewal?         

Certification requirements must be met in full annually including repeating VOC and Best Practices evaluation.