Identity Theft Concerns Not Expected to Chill Holiday Shopping: Discover Survey
20 Novembre 2017 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Credit Cards Outpace Debit Cards and Cash as
Most Popular Method of Payment During the Holidays
Despite concerns about identity theft and fraud, consumers don’t
plan to curb their holiday shopping. An independent survey
commissioned by Discover found that while 62 percent of consumers
are very or moderately concerned about identify theft or fraud this
holiday season, a large majority, 73 percent, say concerns over
recent data breaches won’t affect how they’ll go about their
holiday shopping. Discover has commissioned its annual holiday
shopping survey since 2004.
“The safety and security of consumers’ personal information is
always top of mind, especially during the holidays when spending
tends to ramp up,” said Laks Vasudevan, Discover’s vice president
of products and innovation. “We look out for our cardmembers by
offering a wide range of built-in credit card security features for
free, including our recently launched Social Security number and
new account alerts1. Our new alerts help our cardmembers protect
their identities beyond their Discover account. Once a cardmember
activates their new alerts, we’ll monitor thousands of risky
websites and alert them if their Social Security number is found,
or if any new accounts are opened on their Experian® credit
report.”
For more information about Discover card security features, go
to discover.com/security.
Consumers Are Taking Proactive Steps to Safeguard their
Identities
When it comes to protecting themselves from identity theft and
fraud, a large number of consumers are taking proactive steps.
According to the survey, 62 percent of consumers say they monitor
financial statements for suspicious activity, 41 percent monitor
their credit reports, 38 percent use a credit card with built-in
security features and 18 percent subscribe to an identity
protection service. Only 9 percent report not doing anything to
guard against identity theft or fraud.
Baby boomers (ages 55 and over) are the most diligent when it
comes to protecting their identities, as 69 percent say they
monitor their financial statements and 45 percent use a credit card
that has built-in security features. By comparison, 56 percent of
millennials (ages 18 to 34) and 62 percent of generation X (ages 35
to 54) monitor their financial statements, and 32 percent of
millennials and 37 percent of generation X use a credit card with
built-in security features.
Credit Is King while Holiday Shopping
Credit cards are expected to be the most popular method of
payment during the holidays, as about a third of survey
respondents, 32 percent, say they plan to use credit cards most
often when making holiday purchases. That’s followed by 29 percent
who will mostly use debit or prepaid cards and 23 percent who will
mostly use cash. Just 5 percent expect to use gift cards most
often, and only 2 percent will mostly write checks.
Of those who favor credit cards for most of their holiday
shopping, 42 percent cite earning credit card rewards or points as
the primary reason why. Other leading reasons to pay with a credit
card include convenience, 28 percent; the ability to track
spending, 18 percent; and not having enough cash on hand, 12
percent.
Most credit card holders, 70 percent, indicate that they prefer
to earn cash back rewards when using their credit cards for holiday
purchases, compared to 14 percent who would rather earn travel
rewards, such as airline miles or hotel points.
“The holidays can be expensive, which is why we make it as
simple as possible for Discover cardmembers to earn and redeem
rewards,” said Maureen Powers, Discover’s vice president of
rewards. “Cardmembers can offset some of their holiday expenses by
redeeming their cash back rewards in a variety of ways, including
for gift cards from top merchants or as a statement credit to
their Discover card account.”
For more information about Discover card rewards, go to
discover.com/rewards.
About Discover’s 2017 Holiday Shopping Survey
The national survey of 2,008 U.S. consumers ages 18 and up was
commissioned by Discover and conducted by Propeller Insights, an
independent survey research firm, between October 27 and October
31, 2017. The maximum margin of sampling error was ±2 percentage
points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
About Discover
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking
and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands
in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the
company has become one of the largest card issuers in the
United States. The company issues the Discover card, America's cash
rewards pioneer and offers private student loans, personal loans,
home equity loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates
of deposit through its direct banking business. It operates the
Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access
locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks;
and Diners Club International, a global payments network with
acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more
information, visit www.discover.com/company.
1 Discover Identity Alerts are offered by Discover Bank at no
cost, only available online, and currently include the following
services: (a) daily monitoring of your Experian® credit report and
an alert when a new account is listed on your report; (b) daily
monitoring of thousands of risky websites known for revealing
personal information and an alert if your Social Security Number on
is found on such a website. This information is intended for, and
only provided to, Primary credit cardmembers whose accounts are
open, in good standing and have an email address on file. The
Primary cardmember must agree online to receive identity alerts.
Identity alert services are based on Experian information and data
which may differ from information and data at other credit bureaus.
Monitoring your credit report does not impact your credit score.
This benefit may change or end in the future. Discover Bank is not
a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law,
including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. See Frequently Asked
Questions.
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Discover Financial ServicesJeremy
Borling224-405-4252jeremyborling@discover.com@Discover_News
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