Americans stick with same banks despite low rewards and returns

One quarter of Americans still have the same bank as when they opened their very first account, new research has revealed.

That’s according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults with a bank account, which was conducted by Talker Research on behalf of banking app Chime (https://www.chime.com/newsroom/news/new-chime-research-reveals-most-americans-arent-getting-meaningful-rewards-from-their-bank/), and highlighted long-standing relationships, despite settling for subpar rewards and returns.

The study found that the average respondent has been with their bank for nearly two decades (17.4 years), and 26% of baby boomers have stuck around for more than 30 years.

Results also revealed that 36% of those polled have never even considered switching to another bank. But this may be due to lack of awareness of better options.

A little more than a quarter (28%) have no idea what interest rate their savings account earns and another 30% aren’t even aware that some banks offer fee-free rewards.

Yet, the average respondent deposits a majority of their income — 68% — into their checking account, making it the account that handles most of their financial lives. Despite this, only 26% earn any meaningful rewards from that account.

Instead, twice as many Americans polled turn to their credit cards for meaningful rewards (52%).

Four in five of those polled (81%) have at least one credit card and 54% of those pay annual fees, totaling an average of $1,000.

And of those who keep a fee-based credit card, 22% say they do so simply because “that’s just the way it is” — a sign that the expectation of fee-free rewards in banking has all but disappeared for a significant share of consumers.

But the desire for truly meaningful perks runs deep, as 24% have a credit card to earn rewards, outranking even the desire to build credit (20%) or for emergency purposes (14%).

Almost half of millennials (47%) even go so far as to say they “literally need to earn rewards to make ends meet.”

This highlights that low expectations and a lack of awareness have trained Americans to seek rewards from everywhere but the account they use the most.

“When the majority of your income flows through a checking account every month, that account should be working for you,” said Chime’s chief spending officer, Janelle Sallenave. “Our research shows that checking accounts handle most of what Americans earn, yet they’ve been designed to offer the least in return. Fifty-nine percent of credit card users would cancel or downgrade their card if their checking account offered the same rewards, which tells us people aren’t attached to credit cards — they’re just going where the rewards are.”

A majority of those polled (63%) believe meaningful benefits are reserved only for those with premium accounts and that the best rewards go to those with a high balance.

But just because that’s what people have learned to accept, it doesn’t mean that it actually reflects what they want. Almost half of those surveyed (48%) believe they should not have to pay for rewards.

And younger generations have been conditioned the most to pay for perks, with 44% of Gen Z and 30% of millennials expecting to pay for rewards and benefits.

In contrast, only 11% of Gen Z believe you should not have to pay for rewards, compared to another 30% of millennials, 48% of Gen X and 64% of baby boomers.

In fact, respondents would rather make direct deposits every month to earn rewards (38%), edging out maintaining a minimum balance (32%) and paying monthly fees (8%).

At the end of the day, it’s about meeting modern needs, as the majority of those polled (55%) agree that traditional banking needs an overhaul.

“For too long, rewards have been treated as a premium feature — something you unlock with a high balance, a premium tier, or an annual fee,” said Sallenave. “But our data tells a different story: 48% of Americans believe they should not have to pay for rewards at all, and 39% say rewards are now the number one factor in choosing where to bank. The checking account is where people manage their everyday financial lives, and it’s long overdue to be where rewards live too.”