TriCipher, a leading provider of strong authentication solutions to protect against fraud and identity theft, today announced that a recent TriCipher Consumer Online Banking Study, conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, reveals that consumers would take advantage of more online banking services if banks provided stronger identity protection.
The TriCipher Consumer Online Banking Study included 3,349 respondents from a random-sample panel that was representative of the U.S. population. Surprising findings uncovered that nearly 1 in 5 - estimated at 26 million - adult consumers have been victims of identity theft or fraud in their lives. And, according to survey results, over 88 million online banking customers would switch banks, or reduce online banking usage, if news reports exposed their individual institution as compromised.
The survey discovered that banks could dramatically increase their bottom line if they provided customers with identity protection software to securely log in to online banking websites. In fact, not only would an expected 39 million online users increase their online banking activity if their bank offered free identity protection software, but 31 million customers who don't presently bank online would feel safe enough to begin online banking if offered the software.
"Sixty-seven percent, or 150 million, U.S. consumers don't bank online today," said Stephen Knighten, Javelin Strategy & Research statistical analyst. "Our study results show that offering consumers strong online measures creates highly significant implications for the banks. We estimate that the industry could realize a gain of $8.3 billion per year through customer adoption and increased loyalty by offering strong identity protection software to their customers."
When asked if they would download identity protection software from their financial institution, 62%, or 102 million, consumers said that they would be likely to do so. Consumers' willingness to download security software to protect financial information was further confirmed when 69% of respondents, or 113 million consumers, reported having downloaded some form of security software in the last six months.
"We're very excited by the survey results that prove that consumers want more innovative online banking features and that they're more than willing to take the extra security steps to get those features. With recent news of more sophisticated fraud and identity theft attacks, we believe that customers are comfortable downloading innovative software to increase access to financial information and banking functions," explained John De Santis, TriCipher CEO.
After having downloaded, installed, and logged into a simulated online banking website using identity protection software, an overwhelming 4 out of 5 respondents found the process easy - and well worth the effort for more security.