Cardholder satisfaction and feedback from cardholders are highly valued by the Direct Express team. As a result, a Direct Express Cardholder Satisfaction survey is conducted each year to help the Direct Express® team understand what is working for cardholders and where there are opportunities for improvement.

The 2024 Direct Express ® Cardholder Survey reveals continued high levels of satisfaction with the Direct Express® card and slightly increased levels of awareness when it comes to card features, with 80 percent or more being aware of its online shopping capability.

Satisfaction with the card remains strong with a large majority of cardholders and all subgroups. Currently, 90 percent of cardholders are satisfied with 72 percent saying they are very satisfied.

Awareness of Features and Card Usage

 Awareness of card features has slightly increased since last year, especially around surcharge free ATMs and Direct Express® Cash Access. Cardholders continue to be most aware of using the card to pay bills by phone or online, and shop and make purchases in a store or online.

Making retail purchases and getting cash at ATMs remain the most frequent use of the card.

Banked vs. Unbanked

 Almost seven in ten cardholders in 2024 are unbanked. Representative Payees are more likely than others to have a bank account. The number of banked cardholders has increased since 2019, though the number recorded as unbanked increased by one percent since 2023.

Mobile App

 Overall satisfaction with the Direct Express® mobile app has remained strong – 89 percent express satisfaction with it and 73 percent are “very satisfied.”

86 percent of mobile app users use the Direct Express® app once a month or more, with 75 percent saying they use it to confirm their benefit has been deposited to the card on its scheduled day.

87 percent of users find the app very easy or somewhat easy (see graphic), and a third of mobile app users say they would add their card to a digital wallet.

About the Cardholder Survey

The annual cardholder research is designed to:

  • Track satisfaction with the Direct Express® card as a payment option;
  • Uncover areas where lack of awareness might inhibit proper card usage;
  • Gauge levels of card usage for specific transaction types such as ATM withdrawals, purchases and cash back at point-of-sale;
  • Understand how cardholders use cash and the prevalence of using cash instead of the card;
  • Understand usage of and satisfaction with the Direct Express® mobile app.

SOURCE: DIRECT EXPRESS®