Bank’s Best Customers Now Willing to Trade Convenience for Security

Fueled by rising digital threats, security stands top of mind for retail banking customers. Nearly 7 in 10 worry about their personal and financial data vulnerability when engaging with online financial services.

PYMNTS’ latest research found that this security concern is prevalent across demographics, particularly among high-income earners and millennials. Consumers are exhibiting a fundamental shift in their preferences: Security now trumps convenience.

These are some of the key findings from “Retail Banking Security: Consumer Behavior in Focus,” a PYMNTS and Entersekt collaboration. This report sheds light on consumers’ worries about data security when transacting online, the balance between convenience and security, and the willingness to share personal information to enhance online transaction security. This report is based on a census-balanced survey of 2,584 United States consumers conducted between Sept. 26, 2022, and Oct. 3, 2022.

More key findings include the following:

Consumers are worried about the security of their data when banking online.

Anxiety about digital banking security runs high among retail clients. Most believe their personal and financial information is at risk while banking online. The fear is highest among millennials and bridge millennials, at 47% and 51%, respectively. High-income consumers were also among the most likely to be concerned, at 47%.

Millennials opt for security over convenience in online banking.

For retail banking customers, the pendulum has swung away from convenience and toward security. Sixty-two percent of consumers are willing to sacrifice convenience for increased security. Millennials and bridge millennials are the most willing to make this sacrifice, at 66% and 67%, respectively. Although a sizeable share of Gen Z is content with their bank’s security-convenience balance, more than half still prefer additional security.

To enhance security, consumers are open to allowing their FIs to share sensitive data with familiar service providers.

Our study reveals a notable confluence of trust and privacy. Forty-one percent of consumers will allow financial institutions to disclose sensitive personal information to known service providers such as insurers to bolster transaction security. Even technology firms can garner the users’ trust for the promise of more secure transactions. The willingness of consumers to share drops significantly for unfamiliar providers, however.

Consumers are concerned about data vulnerability during online financial transactions, but are sometimes willing to share sensitive information to heighten security. Download the report to learn more about consumers’ views on retail banking security.