KeyBank Secured Credit Card Graduates One-Third of Clients in Under a Year, 65% Millennials

CLEVELAND, Oct. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank, today, announced their 2019 graduating class of clients from the Secured Credit Card, a tool that empowers clients who are building their credit or making a credit comeback. Nearly one-third (30%) of Secured Credit Card customers are graduating this month after less than one year of using the tool, and two-thirds (65%) of those graduates are Millennials (those born between 1982 and 2000), as many in this generation struggle to find their financial footing and are turning to secured credit cards to establish good credit.  

"Millennials, many of whom came of age during the 2008 recession, are saddled with debt and looking for ways out of it," said Mitch Kime, Head of Consumer Payments in KeyBank's Enterprise Payments group. "Our Secured Credit Card helps them overcome the barriers they face to establishing a strong credit history that makes financial achievements, like renting their own apartment, a reality."

KeyBank's Secured Credit Card improves financial wellness by providing eligible clients with simple access to credit while helping them develop good spending habits and an educational foundation for future credit cards. Cardholder accounts are reviewed twice each year to determine if the client meets the criteria to graduate to an unsecured credit card. Millennials, who are often new-to-credit and lack credit worthiness more than any other generation, find the tool particularly useful. Young adults and recent college graduates, ages 21 to 25, comprise the largest segment of Secured Credit Card customers, showing that younger Millennials are taking advantage of this credit steppingstone as they work toward financial independence.

The growing prevalence of secured cards proves that good credit truly matters to financial wellness?whether buying a car or applying for a loan, credit is considered a major factor in eligibility. KeyBank's Secured Credit Card helps unlock financial doors that people with little to no traditional access to credit were previously barred from. To date, Key has helped nearly 10,000 clients build or rebuild credit with this product launched just 12 months ago.

Features of the Secured Credit Card include:

• KeyBank checks in on clients' accounts twice each year to determine if they meet the criteria to graduate to an unsecured credit card.
• Unlike prepaid or debit cards, the Secured Credit Card reports clients' history to credit bureaus, allowing them to show progress.
• While clients build their credit*, their Secured Credit Card deposit must be kept in a Key Active Saver account, enabling users to build their credit and savings in tandem?all with a $0 annual fee¹.
• With Key's temporary lock security feature, Cardholders can easily use online or mobile banking to lock and unlock a misplaced credit card, thus avoiding having to cancel it and open a new one?potentially harming their credit score.

For more information on Secured Credit Card, head online to https://www.key.com/personal/credit-cards/key-secured-credit-card.jsp

*Use of the Key Secured Credit Card can help build credit when the minimum payment is made by the due date, each month.
¹ Please see the cardmember agreement for rates and fees associated with this card.
The Key Secured Credit Card is subject to credit approval.

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $146.7 billion at September 30, 2019.  Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of over 1,100 branches and more than 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

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SOURCE KeyCorp