from the Atlanta Fed
Consumer research studies have consistently shown that a top obstacle to adopting new payment technologies such as mobile payments is consumers’ concern over the privacy and security protections of the technology. Could it be that consumers are indeed concerned but believe that the responsibility for ensuring their privacy and security falls to others? A May 2014 research study by idRADAR revealed the conundrum that risk managers often face: they know that consumers are concerned with security, but they also know they are not active in protecting themselves by adopting strong practices to safeguard their online privacy and security.
The survey asked respondents if they had taken any actions after hearing of the Target breach to protect their privacy or to prevent credit/debit card fraudulent activity. A surprising 79 percent admitted they had done nothing. Despite the scope of the Target data breach, only 4 percent of the respondents indicated that they had signed up for the credit and identity monitoring service that retailers who had been affected offered at no charge (see the chart).
In response to another question, this one asking about the frequency at which they changed their passwords, more than half (58 percent) admitted that they changed their personal e-mail or online passwords only when forced or prompted to do so. Fewer than 10 percent changed it monthly.
When we compare the results of this study with other consumer attitudinal studies, it becomes clear that the ability to get consumers to actually adopt strong security practices remains a major challenge. At “Portals and Rails, we will continue to stress the importance of efforts to educate consumers, and we ask that you join us in this effort.
About the Author
By David Lott, a retail payments risk expert in the Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Atlanta Fed
Source: http://portalsandrails.frbatlanta.org/2014/06/do-consumers-REALLY-care-about-payments-privacy-and-security.html
