Fewer Than 50 Percent of Global Consumers Trust Businesses to Protect Their Financial and Payments Data

NAPLES, FL--(Marketwired - February 21, 2017) - Consumers across the globe are more concerned with protecting their financial and payments information stored on a computer than they are with protecting this data when stored on a mobile wallet, according to new benchmark data, "Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions," from ACI Worldwide (ACIW) and Aite Group. The global fraud study of more than 6,000 consumers across 20 countries revealed that only 43 percent of global consumers trust businesses, including restaurants and merchants, to protect their financial data -- while surprisingly, more than 80 percent of global consumers generally believe their mobile wallet data is secure.

As payments are increasingly shifting to mobile devices and global fraud continues to rise, consumers must be vigilant about mobile fraud protection. Across the globe, consumers are adapting to technology advancements -- including the ubiquity of mobile wallets and a continued shift to online shopping -- impacting their perceptions around payments data security.

Principal study findings include:

  • Global consumers are not confident in firms' abilities to protect their stored data; only in the U.S., (54%), India (60%) and Thailand (51%) do consumers report at least 50 percent confidence that their stored data is well-protected

  • Across all regions, the top security concern is theft by computer hacking (32% in the U.S., 45% in Germany, 37% in Indonesia)

  • Globally, over 80 percent of consumers think their mobile wallet's personal and financial information is secure

  • After experiencing fraud or a data breach, 65 percent of consumers indicated they would stop shopping with a given merchant

  • Consumers are generally willing to interact with organizations to mitigate fraud, overwhelmingly preferring to engage with relevant organizations via mobile device

  • 75 percent of consumers globally are very interested in receiving a call or SMS message to their mobile device to help mitigate fraud.

"This data is a further wakeup call to the broader payments industry, including merchants, banks and financial intermediaries, that we must proactively educate consumers about security measures that are in place -- to allay consumer concerns, which will not only result in enhanced customer experiences, but also help to reduce fraud losses," said Andreas Suma, vice president and global lead, fraud and data, ACI Worldwide. "Moreover, consumers must become more proactive in securing their personal data by using the fraud prevention measures and services offered by their financial institutions."