In 2025, consumer interactions with financial institutions saw a notable shift, leading to a significant surge in consumer complaints. According to the newly released FDIC Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights, the FDIC’s Consumer Response Unit (CRU) was busy, managing a 21 percent increase in complaint volume compared to the previous year.
Here is a deep dive into the trends, the products causing the most friction, and what the FDIC did to help consumers make things right.
The Numbers at a Glance
The CRU closed an impressive 32,128 written complaints and telephone call records in 2025, up from 26,451 in 2024. Despite the heavier workload, the FDIC's efficiency remained top-tier, acknowledging 100 percent of written complaints within 14 days and responding to 98.9 percent within established performance goals.
Out of the 28,489 written complaints closed, the CRU retained and investigated roughly half (15,405 cases), while referring others to different federal banking regulators. These investigations uncovered:
- 280 errors made by financial institutions.
- 108 violations of federal consumer protection regulations.
- 76 cases escalated to FDIC Regional Offices for further review.
- A 37 percent decrease in fair lending complaints (dropping from 62 to 39 cases).
Of the CRU’s interventions, consumers received over $1.66 million in total voluntary restitution and compensation. Beyond monetary relief, 626 cases resulted in non-monetary compensation, such as banks forgiving debt, granting loan modifications, updating credit reports, and halting collection calls.
Products Driving Complaints
Complaints were largely concentrated on a few specific banking products:
- Credit Cards: Dominating the list, credit cards accounted for 31 percent of investigated complaints (5,783 cases).
- Checking Accounts: Coming in second, checking accounts made up 17 percent of complaints (3,106 cases).
- Installment Loans and Consumer Lines of Credit: These combined for 16 percent of complaints (3,014 cases).
- Other Loans: Unclassified loans made up 9 percent of the total (1,549 cases).
The Root Causes
What exactly were the issues concerning these products? The data reveals that credit reporting is by far the most dominant issue, representing a staggering 35 percent of all complaint issues (6,543 cases). In fact, credit reporting errors were the primary complaint driver for credit cards (59% of card complaints), installment loans (54%), and "other" loans (88%).
Other common issues included:
- Discrepancy Transaction Errors (8 percent): Notably making up 36 percent of all checking account complaints.
- Unable to Provide Requested Service (5 percent): Often related to service disruptions where customers could not immediately access their accounts.
- Disclosures (4 percent) and Collection Practices (4 percent): Rounding out the top five most frequent issues.
A Growing Trend: Third-Party Providers
This is the one to watch - one of the most eye-opening statistics from 2025 is the sharp rise in complaints involving Third-Party Providers (TPPs). TPPs are non-bank companies that handle services for banks, such as payment processing, credit card servicing, or dispute resolution.
Complaints involving one or more TPPs spiked by nearly 48 percent, climbing from 4,282 in 2024 to 6,356 in 2025. During their investigations, the CRU identified 34 federal consumer protection regulation violations specifically involving these third-party companies.
The Bottom Line
The 2025 FDIC data paints a clear picture: as financial services become more reliant on third-party integrations and complex credit reporting structures, these create additional consumer friction points in these specific areas. The FDIC is taking these complaints seriously and handling them — often with significant financial remedies.
For bankers, the key takeaway is the urgent need to strengthen oversight of third-party providers and ensure the accuracy of credit reporting processes. Proactive monitoring, transparent communication, and rapid response to consumer complaints are essential to mitigate risk and maintain trust. Investing in robust compliance frameworks and building resilient partnerships with third-party vendors will be vital strategies to address these emerging challenges and reduce exposure to regulatory action.
