The security of credit and debit card information is a bigger concern for consumers than their health, retirement savings or losing their mobile phone, according to a consumer trust survey.
The survey, conducted by KRC Research on behalf of Honeywell, polled more than 2,000 credit and debit card users about the impact of recent data breaches on consumer trust, actions and expectations.
It found consumers have widespread awareness of and concern regarding recent data breaches at major retailers. Nearly all (90 per cent) respondents have heard about recent credit or debit card breaches at major retailers. Additionally, more than one-fifth of respondents stated they do not feel secure when paying with debit cards at retail establishments.
Most respondents (81 per cent) would be angry to learn that their favourite national retailer was not already using the best available technology to protect consumer information. Nine in 10 consumers found retailers encrypting data to be a more appealing service for protecting their personal financial data than store-offered fraud and identity-theft protection services (73 per cent) or those services offered by a third party (61 per cent).
Consumers are also willing to change their shopping behaviour to safeguard their data if they personally suffer from a data breach. Of those surveyed, 76 per cent said they would forgo credit and debit transactions and 38 per cent said they would entirely avoid a particular retailer if they personally suffered from a data breach.
Respondents felt retailers could be doing more to protect their financial information and stated they will shift shopping habits towards retailers that take security seriously, with 82 per cent reporting a willingness to shop more frequently at stores that leverage point-to-point encryption technology.
Ninety-three per cent of respondents support government-mandated security safety requirements.
