The research surveyed 8000 consumers in the US, UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Hong Kong and found that 45% of respondents would be willing to switch accounts to financial institutions that offer more security protection.

Just a third of of consumers report receiving information from their banks about phishing fraud. At the same time, 52% say they would like to receive more information from banks about security and fraud protection.

Dominick Cavuoto, CVP and president, global financial services practice, Unisys, says it is clear there is a lack of communication about fraud prevention: "To secure their business operations, banks need to build better relationships with their customers and partner together to combat ID fraud.

"Financial institutions need a holistic plan with visibility beyond the latest IT tools. They need to not only install leading security technology but also must implement business processes to better communicate ID fraud prevention tips with customers."

Biometrics - such as iris or fingerprint scans - was cited by consumers as the preferred method to fight fraud and identity theft, followed by smart cards, tokens and more passwords.

The research found that the US leads in ID fraud instances, with 17% of US consumers saying they have been victims, followed by the 11% in the UK and nine per cent in Brazil. The country with the least instances of fraud was Hong Kong where just one per cent of consumers said they had fallen victim, followed by Germany where three per cent of consumers said they had been victims.