Survey of Consumers’ Awareness of their Financial Rights and
Responsibilities
Executive Summary
Prepared for Financial Consumer
Agency of Canada
Supplier Name: Environics Research
Contract
Number: 5R000-201617/001/CY
Contract
Value: $77,221.87 (including HST)
Award
Date: 2021-02-16
Delivery
Date: 2021-04-27
Registration Number: POR 119-20
For more information on this report, please contact the
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada at:
info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca
Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français
Survey of Consumers’ Awareness of their Financial Rights and
Responsibilities
Final Report
Prepared for Financial Consumer Agency of Canada by Environics
Research
April 2021
Permission to reproduce
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Financial Consumer Agency
of Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada at: info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the
Minister of Finance Canada, 2021.
Cat. No. FC5-58/2021E-PDF
ISBN 978-0-660-40181-2
Cette publication est aussi disponible en
français sous le titre Sondage sur la sensibilisation des consommateurs à
l’égard de leurs droits et responsabilités en matière financière.
Cat. No. FC5-58/2021F-PDF
ISBN : 978-0-660-40182-9
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC’s) priorities include
promoting consumers’ awareness of their financial rights and responsibilities.
FCAC’s 2020-2021 Business Plan comprises key performance indicators related to
rights and responsibilities, including an indicator on the percentage of
consumers who are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
A survey conducted in 2019 provided baseline results for this indicator.
A reiteration of this survey in 2021 allowed for comparative quantitative data
to help FCAC identify potential gaps in current awareness. The results in this
report also provide data about whether FCAC is achieving the rights and
responsibilities indicator established in its current business plan.
The objectives of this research were
to:
·
gather quantitative
evidence of consumers’ awareness of certain financial rights and
responsibilities
·
highlight potential gaps
in consumers’ awareness of certain financial risks identified in FCAC’s
industry review of bank sales practices
·
assess results against
the rights and responsibilities indicator
established in FCAC’s current business plan
·
assess results against
the baseline established with the 2019 public opinion research (POR) survey on
rights and responsibilities
Environics conducted
a random-probability telephone survey with 3,008 adult residents of Canada,
from March 4 to 25, 2021. This survey targeted the general Canadian population,
aged 18 and over, who have a product or service with a bank or credit union.
The sample comprised a mix of landline telephone sample (44%) and cellphone
sample (56%), which generated 30 percent of interviews with Canadians who use
their cellphone exclusively.
The six questions from the 2019 survey were
repeated in 2021. The average survey length was five and a half minutes and was
conducted in the respondent’s official language of choice. The sample was
stratified by region to allow for meaningful coverage of lower population areas
and the final data are weighted to 2016 Census information for region, age, and
gender.
The survey used a random probability sample, using industry-standard
random-digit-dialing (RDD) techniques. A survey of this size will yield
national results which can be considered accurate to within +/- 1.8 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20.
More
information about the methodology for this survey is included in Appendix A.
The cost of this research was $77,221.87 (HST included).
4.
Key Findings
Canadian consumers of banking products/services were asked a
series of five true/false questions to measure awareness of rights and
responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions and one question
about behaviour.
·
The results reveal that Canadians’ awareness of the requirement
to consent for certain banking products has declined, specifically that they do
not have to agree to credit card insurance when applying for a card (down 5
points since 2019 to 64%), and that a bank cannot increase a credit card limit
without their approval (down 3 points to 57%).
·
Awareness of the other three financial rights and
responsibilities was statistically unchanged from 2019. Only one-third (34%)
are aware that credit card insurance will not always cover an outstanding
balance. By comparison, large majorities of Canadians remain aware of their
right to receive easy-to-understand information around the costs of financial
products/services (81%), and that a bank cannot issue a credit card (78%)
without their approval.
·
Overall, seven in ten Canadians (72%) correctly answered at
least three of the five factual questions, six percentage points lower than in
2019 (78%).
·
A slim majority (53%) of Canadians say they almost always read
the fine print before accepting a financial product/service, which is
consistent with 2019 (54%). As was the case in 2019, those who first read the
fine print are no more likely to answer the factual questions correctly.
The decline in the overall level of awareness about these financial rights and responsibilities is
not limited to any single region or demographic segment but is generally
evident across the board. The following paragraphs describe the key patterns by
key segments.
·
Education and income: Overall awareness (the total number
of correct responses) declined most notably among those with a postsecondary
education and those in the middle-income brackets (between $40K and $150K).
Despite this, overall awareness remains lower among those with the lowest
household incomes (under $40,000) and the lowest level of education (i.e., high
school or less), as was the case in 2019.
·
Gender: Awareness of the specified financial rights and
responsibilities have declined primarily among women, resulting in lower levels
compared to men - a gap between the genders that did not exist in 2019. The
exception is that women are more aware of banks’ responsibility to provide
individuals with easy-to-understand information; thus, the higher overall
awareness among men is driven by their stronger awareness of other statements.
·
Age: Since 2019, levels of financial awareness declined
across all age groups. As a result, seniors aged 65 or over continue to have
the largest gaps in awareness about most of the financial rights and
responsibilities tested than other age groups. Those between the ages of 25 to
49 are the most aware, similar to 2019.
·
Region: Overall awareness has declined across most regions
of Canada, compared to 2019, with the exceptions of British Columbia and
Saskatchewan. Residents of Atlantic Canada, Manitoba, and Alberta exhibit lower
levels of awareness of specified financial rights and responsibilities, while
Quebec residents are consistently more aware of these financial rights and
responsibilities than those in other regions. Connected to
this, those speaking French at home also remain more likely to be aware of the
specified financial rights and responsibilities compared to those who speak
English or another (non-official) language at home, despite French speakers
being less likely than others to say they almost always read the fine print
before accepting a financial product/service.
·
Limitations: One in five Canadians report a physical or
mental condition that reduces what they can do, and as was the case in 2019,
one in five of this group (20%) says this limits their ability to deal with
their bank. In all, four percent of the population say they have a condition
that makes it difficult to deal with their bank.
5.
Political Neutrality Statement and Contact Information
I hereby certify as senior officer
of Environics that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada
political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the
Government of Canada, and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public
Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on
electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the
electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.
Sarah Roberton
Vice President, Corporate & Public Affairs
Environics
Research Group
sarah.roberton@environics.ca
613-793-2229
Supplier name:
Environics Research Group
PWGSC
contract number: 5R000-201617/001/CY
Original
contract date: 2021-02-16
For more information, contact info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca