Did you know that in the U.S. one new debit card is issued every five seconds?

Americans’ usage of debit cards has risen dramatically in the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of debit card payments grew from 8.3 billion to 47 billion.

With attractive features like immediate fund withdrawal, chip-enabled protection and cash back, it’s no wonder debit cards are achieving top-of-wallet status. Sixty-six percent of consumers surveyed in 2014 said that the best feature of their preferred debit card was having funds deducted immediately from their accounts, while 55 percent said that being able to withdraw cash at ATMs was the most important feature.

Ask yourself, when it comes to debit cards, are you giving account holders what they really want?

How Financial Institutions Are Competing

The popularity of debit cards has put financial institutions into high competition for top-of-wallet status and customer loyalty. One major way institutions can stay competitive is with instant in-branch card issuance. New cloud-based technology is enabling branches to issue debit cards to account holders instantly, allowing customers to walk out of the branch with their new debit card in-hand.

This is good for business because it increases activation and usage rates (as high as 89 percent) and makes for happier customers, increasing customer loyalty.

  • Instant card issuance is predicted to go mainstream by 2020 and customer awareness is increasing.
  • Forty-eight percent of all debit card users and 63 percent of Millennial debit card users think it’s important to receive debit cards in a local branch.
  • Among all debit card users, 36 percent say instant issuance would influence their choice of financial institution.
  • 47 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds say instant issuance would influence their choice of financial institution.

With the availability of instant issuance becoming a deciding factor for customers, it’s time for financial institutions to get in the game.

Superior Customer Experience

Whether your customers are opening new accounts or are in search of replacement cards, providing them with the superior experience of receiving their new, fully-customized card in-branch is the key to customer satisfaction, and to winning that coveted top-of-wallet spot.

Excellent customer service and experience are paramount to customer retention and loyalty, and are a great way to organically build brand advocates.

With the growing ubiquity of debit cards, the fastest way to build customer loyalty is by providing a stellar in-branch experience, starting with instant card issuance. The customer has spoken!

Click here to learn more about Card@Once® from Vericast.

 

Card@Once is a registered trademark of CPI Card Group, Inc. U.S. Patent No. 8,429,075.
EMV is a registered trademark or trademark of EMVCo LLC in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved.