COVID-19 has led to an increased awareness of Financial Wellness

Equifax Survey finds that over 70 per cent of surveyed consumers have checked their credit report within the last year

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- People are checking their credit reports and scores more frequently and are taking identity theft more seriously as compared to previous years, according to a recent consumer survey conducted by Equifax Canada.

COVID-19 has caused many people to take a closer look at their financial situation, which is resulting in an increased understanding about their relationship with credit. Within the last 12 months, 71 per cent of survey respondents have checked their credit report, including 57 per cent in the last month. Younger adults (under age 55) and Quebecers were significantly more likely to have checked their credit reports on a regular basis. This is a significant shift for consumers when considering 67 per cent of survey respondents ‘rarely or never checked their credit reports’ according to a similar survey conducted by Equifax in 2016.

“The pandemic has clearly impacted everyone so much that more people feel the need to assess their financial situation,” said Rebecca Oakes, Equifax Canada’s AVP of Advanced Analytics. “Checking your credit reports and obtaining credit scores is a good place to start. It’s actually encouraging to see a higher percentage of people checking their credit reports and scores now compared to a few years ago.”

Equifax Canada data indicates that payment deferrals have been utilized with over 3 million consumers taking a payment deferral since the pandemic started. Thus far, 14 per cent of open mortgages have had at least one month of payment deferral (approximately 900,000 deferred mortgages) and two per cent of open credit cards have had at least one month of payment deferral (approximately 1.2 million deferred credit cards). About half of deferred mortgages have had continued deferred payments for the past four months, while credit cards have had a shorter deferral duration of one or two months.

CREDIT SCORES ALSO CHECKED MORE FREQUENTLY

In addition to checking their credit reports, survey respondents indicated they are obtaining their credit scores more frequently. More than half (54 per cent) said they obtain their score at least annually, as compared to 48 per cent a year ago. Younger adults (those aged 18-34) are significantly more likely to check their credit scores monthly versus those over the age of 35 (37 per cent in 2020 vs. 27 per cent in 2019).