A RESOURCE FOR BANKERS APRIL 2020

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, 

it is recommended or required that 

households remain home as much as 

possible and limit contact with others to 

prevent the spread of the virus. While 

essential services, such as banking, will 

continue, face to face interaction may 

be unavailable or undesirable, and 

households may need to change the way 

they conduct their finances. As banks 

adjust operations and develop strategies 

for serving consumers, they may want 

to consider how social distancing and 

other restrictions could affect some 

bank customers’ ability to conduct 

financial transactions. It is important 

for banks to continue communicating 

with their customers on the options they 

have available to conduct their banking 

transactions. Some of these strategies 

may include:

• reaching out to customers that 

might not be enrolled in mobile 

and online banking and helping 

them set up their online credentials. 

• reaching out to customers that are 

not currently using banking features, 

such as bill pay, person-to-person 

payments, or mobile deposits. 

• communicating about online 

account opening capabilities 

to facilitate onboarding of 

new customers.

• ensuring that routing and account 

numbers are safely, but easily, 

accessible to customers that need 

to set up direct deposit.

• ensuring that customer services 

personnel is equipped to handle 

a higher volume of customers 

requesting help setting up and 

using online and mobile banking 

capabilities, locating drivethru services, or completing 

transactions via phone. 

• identifying additional customer 

segments that could need support. 

Branch staff, in particular, might 

have insights into the types of 

customers and services that might 

be most affected and could help 

inform strategies to help support 

these consumers. 

• closely monitoring and 

communicating any challenges 

that banks and their customers 

might have at this time and sharing 

their experiences and suggestions 

with industry and regulators.

• posting clear directions on the 

bank’s website regarding opening 

accounts online, setting up online 

credentials, and warning customers 

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Households May Need to Change How They Conduct 

Financial Transactions During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

of potential scams, which will help 

consumers know they are dealing 

with a trusted site.

The largest challenges may be for 

consumers who typically engage in 

financial transactions in person and 

may lack familiarity with or access to 

other banking channels. This includes 

households that disproportionately 

rely on bank branches to access 

their accounts, those who pay bills 

in person, or those who use other 

nonbank financial services, such 

as check cashing or money orders.

Customers reliant on bank branches

To protect employees and customers, 

banks are making changes to limit 

branch accessibility. Precautions such 

as closing branch lobbies and reducing 

hours help minimize interpersonal 

interaction, but may cause disruptions 

for customers that solely or primarily 

rely on bank branches to access 

their bank accounts. While most 

households have visited a bank branch 

to access their account at some point 

in the past 12 months, one quarter 

(24.3 percent) of banked households 

rely on branches as their primary account 

access method, including 12.6 percent 

who use bank tellers as their only 

banking channel. 

Presented by FDIC Consumer News:

A Resource for Bankers

FEDERAL DEPOSIT 

INSURANCE CORPORATION
A RESOURCE FOR BANKERS APRIL 2020

• Use of bank tellers as the primary 

means of account access remains 

quite prevalent among certain 

segments of the population including:

– older households: 37 percent 

of households age 55+

– households in rural areas: 

38 percent

– lower-income households: 38 

percent of banked household 

below $30K income

– less-educated households: 

46 percent of households 

with no high school diploma

Customers who conduct other inperson financial transactions

There is also a segment of bank 

customers who conduct financial 

transactions in person at nonbank 

locations who may also need to 

change the way they transact. These 

include bank customers that use 

alternative financial services like check 

cashing, nonbank money orders, or 

remittances (i.e., transaction AFS), 

and those who pay bills in person.

• About 16 percent of banked 

households used transaction AFS 

in the past 12 months. Populations 

that are more likely to use these 

nonbank services include:

– black or Hispanic households: 

nearly one-third

– lower- income households: 

about one in five banked 

households with income 

below $30K 

– younger households: about 

one quarter of banked 

households under age 24

• Also a portion of bank customers 

regularly go to stores and payees 

to pay their bills.

Source: 2017 FDIC Survey of Unbanked 

and Underbanked Households. 

Switching to alternative channels 

can be challenging

Bank customers might be looking 

to find alternative ways to conduct 

their transactions to reduce personal 

contact. Most customers have access 

to other banking channels including 

telephone banking, ATMs, mobile 

banking and online banking. Banks 

are promoting the availability of drivethru tellers and ATMs that might serve 

many of these consumers, and may 

substitute for branch services in many 

cases. Banks are also recommending 

that customers increase use of online 

and mobile services, which can be 

useful for households that need or 

desire to remain at home. For example, 

consumers that are used to depositing 

checks via bank teller or ATM, or 

visiting check cashers, may choose to 

try bank mobile deposit services instead. 

Switching to online and mobile 

banking could be a convenient way 

to conduct financial transactions 

from home. However, this may not 

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be a smooth transition for many. 

Over three quarters of banked 

households that primarily rely on bank 

tellers do not use either mobile or 

online services. In fact, almost a quarter 

don’t have access to a mobile phone or 

internet at home and would likely have 

to rely more heavily on other banking 

channels, such as telephone banking, 

ATMs and drive-thrus.

FDIC Resources

As circumstances evolve, the FDIC 

will continue to support banks in their 

efforts to adjust operations and provide 

banking services to all consumers. 

Through Money Smart, the FDIC 

offers non-copyrighted, high-quality, 

free financial education resources 

for banks and other stakeholders 

to train people of all ages and small 

businesses. Access FDIC Money 

Smart for Adults modules to develop 

messaging and provided financial 

education to consumers. See table:

Module of 

Money Smart for Adults

Key Topics

Module 14: Disasters-Financial 

Preparation and Recovery

• Consider Arranging for Online 

 or Mobile Banking

• Watch Out for Scams

Module 5: Your Savings, Section 3:

– Try It: Unexpected Expenses

– Apply It: My Emergency 

Savings Fund Plan

– Apply It: Estimating Savings 

for Changes in My Income 

and Expenses

• My Emergency Savings Fund Plan

• Estimating Savings Needs

Module 2: You Can Bank On It • Managing a Bank Account

• Using a Bank Account.
A RESOURCE FOR BANKERS APRIL 2020

HOW TO REACH US

If you have a complaint or inquiry, you can submit it using our online form, 

which can be found at https://ask.fdic.gov/fdicinformationandsupportcenter/s/

To reach us by phone, call toll-free: 1-877-275-3342 (1-877-ASK-FDIC) 

Regular hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (EST).

For more current financial information, check out Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Consumer News at https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/ or

from the previous page • FDIC toll-free Customers Hotline 

1-877-ASK-FDIC or 1-877-

275- 3342 or TDD 800-925-4618 

for information about accessing 

banking services or how to reach 

their bank. This hotline operates 

from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

Eastern Time Monday through 

Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

on Saturday and Sunday. 

• Consumers whose personal 

information has been misused 

should contact the local authorities 

and file a complaint with the 

Federal Trade Commission by 

phone at 877-IDTHEFT or 

1-877-438-4338 or TDD 1-866-

653-4261 or on the Internet at 

www.identitytheft.gov/. 

• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.

equifax.com/ ; P.O. Box 740241, 

Atlanta, GA 30374- 0241 

• Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN 

or 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.

com/ ; P.O. Box 9554, Allen, 

TX 75013 

• TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872; www.

transunion.com/ ; Fraud Victim 

Assistance Department, P.O. Box 

2000, Chester, PA 19016

Parent/Caregiver guides are also 

available to offer ideas to help 

young people learn about money.

Other resources of interest:

• Press release: FDIC: Insured 

Bank Deposits are Safe; Beware 

of Potential Scams Using the 

Agency’s Name

– Frequently asked questions 

for bank customers

– The FDIC’s website on 

COVID-19 

• Coronavirus disease 2019 

(COVID-19): What do Older 

Adults and People with 

Disabilities Need to Know? 

• FDIC Disaster Impact on 

Banking Operations webpage: 

www.fdic.gov/news/disaster/

• FDIC Consumer Protection 

webpage: www.fdic.gov/consumers

• FIL-11-2020: FDIC Statement on 

Financial Institutions Working 

with Customers Affected by the 

Coronavirus and Regulatory and 

Supervisory Assistance; March 13, 

2020, https://www.fdic.gov/news/

news/financial/2020/fil20017a.pdf

• FDIC Electronic Deposit 

Insurance Estimator (EDIE) 

https://edie.fdic.gov/