Consumers wary of financial data protection

A global report on the perceptions and opinions of consumers toward fraud in shopping and data protection only 43% of global consumers trust merchants to protect personal data.

Electronic payments company ACI Worldwide surveyed more than 6,000 consumers from 20 countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK and the US.

The Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions’ found only in three of the 20 countries surveyed did more than half the consumers surveyed trust merchants’ ability to protect their data: India (60%), the US (54%) and Thailand (51%).

More than one in three consumers (35%) regarded theft by computer hackers as the biggest fraud risk, while using cards for purchases via telephone, using a phone or tablet to shop or pay bills and shopping online are all perceived as less risk.  Nearly two in three (65%) indicated that they would stop shopping with a given merchant after experiencing fraud or data breach.

Three in four consumers globally are “very interested” in receiving a call or short message service (SMS) to their mobile device to help mitigate fraud. In the eurozone, French consumers are the most confident in retailers’ in-store payment security systems, with 62% believing stores provide adequate security.

“With stories about data breaches regularly dominating the news headlines, these results do not come as a surprise,” said Jay Floyd, head of fraud strategy and solutions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), ACI Worldwide.

“Most financial institutions and businesses worldwide have invested considerably in sophisticated fraud monitoring and prevention solutions; however, fraudsters also invest considerably. They continually find new ways of attacking IT systems and thereby collecting and monetising confidential data.

“The findings should serve as a wake-up call to the industry to better educate consumers and to highlight security measures that are in place. Consumers on the other hand must become more proactive in securing their data and make use of the fraud prevention measures and services offered by their banks.”

Among other key findings of the report:

• Mobile wallet adoption:Mobile wallet and payments adoption is strongest in regions where other electronic payments options – particularly card payments infrastructure – is less mature, for example India (56%), Thailand (51%) and Mexico (38%) compared to ‘mature card markets’ in Europe like the UK (14%), France (15%) and Netherlands (20%).

• Mobile wallet security:Consumers show a surprisingly high level of confidence when it comes to mobile wallet security. For example, 93 percent of UK respondents say they believe mobile wallet technology is secure or somewhat secure, one of the highest rates globally.

• Fraud education:Consumer education on fraud awareness varies significantly across and within regions. In the UK, only 39% of consumers say they have received anti-fraud information from their bank. Across Europe, the picture is similar with at least one-third of consumers saying they don’t recall receiving any anti-fraud information.

• Fraud prevention:Consumers are generally willing to interact with organisations in order to mitigate fraud. The majority of UK consumers (55%) prefer to be contacted by a bank via mobile phone if there is unusual activity on a bank account or card.

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