Americans are both anxious about their information security and interested in embracing digital payments, according to the results of a new survey. Sponsored by MasterCard, Braun Research conducted the phone survey on two dates in May among a nationally representative assortment of 1,000 Americans.
Of the respondents, 77 percent reported anxiety over the possibility of having their social security numbers or financial information compromised. Tellingly, 92 percent of respondents said they felt they take precautions to safeguard that data, but 46 percent admitted to rarely or never changing the passwords they use for their online financial accounts; moreover, 39 percent admitted to having looked up their financial data on public networks.
At the same time, respondents were largely interested in the emerging possibilities of digital and mobile payments, with 56 percent asserting that they currently use mPayment apps or websites, or that they plan on doing so in the near future. And they’re optimistic about security: 88 percent trust their payment network to take the appropriate security measures to protect their information, and 77 percent think that consumers’ defences will be helped by new technologies; 82 percent have heard of biometric authentication. Millennials in particular are among the least likely to think that their sensitive data is going to be more at risk over the next three years, echoing similar survey results from a Visa survey announced early this year.
All told, the numbers point to opportunities for companies involved in promoting mobile security, with consumer demand high and a growing market for advanced security technologies. There has already been a pronounced uptick in the inclusion of biometric authentication systems in smartphones; this survey clearly justifies that trend in terms of demand, and suggests advanced authentication security should be even more widespread.
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