Banks must act "urgently" to tackle Net user security fears if they are to retain and attract customers to cheaper online channels says Forrester Research.
In a survey of more than 22,000 Europeans, Forrester found that just 30% of Internet users are confident of the security of personal financial information, like credit and debit card numbers, when used to make transactions online. Two-fifths of the European Net users who don’t use online banking say they don’t because they worry about security.
Benjamin Ensor, senior analyst, financial services at Forrester says: "Consumers’ deep-seated security fears remain one of the biggest barriers to online banking use in Europe, particularly in countries like Italy, France, and the UK, where two-factor online banking authentication is rare or unknown. The more confidence Net users have in security, the more likely they are to bank online."
The analyst group says that banks should look to educate Net users about security precautions, not let usability fears compromise security, deploy or strengthen two-factor authentication "urgently", and collaborate rather than compete on security.