More Than Half of Bank Consumers Want Better Transaction Security

As authentication technologies evolve and consumer awareness of security measures grows, retail banking customers demand more secure and user-friendly online identity verification.

PYMNTS’ latest research found that 36% of banking customers want their financial institutions (FIs) to provide more visible security measures for high-risk financial activities. Most of these consumers believe that additional visible security measures make their assets and personal information more secure.

These are some key findings explored in “Visible and Invisible Security: Perceptions in Digital Banking,” a PYMNTS and Entersekt collaboration. This report details results from a survey of 2,584 United States consumers, identifying their preferences for visible and invisible online authentication methods.

More key findings we explore in this report include the following:

• Consumers want to be more involved in protecting their money and identity, even in everyday financial activities.

Twenty-seven percent of banking consumers want their FIs to provide additional visible security measures for routine digital activities, with 30% looking for added security when accessing bank accounts, 29% when sending or receiving money and 27% when making purchases. The preference for additional visible security measures is present across demographic groups, with millennials leading the pack at 37%.

• Banks can bolster consumer trust by implementing additional visible security measures for high-risk online financial transactions.

Consumers are particularly interested in visible security measures when completing infrequent and higher-risk financial transactions. Thirty-eight percent of consumers want more visible security when accessing their bank accounts from a new device and 37% when making large online transactions. Millennial, Gen Z and Gen X consumers are more likely to want additional visible security, with baby boomers and seniors the exception.

• Customers of digital-only banks crave additional visible security measures for frequent digital financial activities and transactions.

Consumers say they want visible and invisible security measures at roughly equal rates regardless of the type of bank they use; however, they express greater interest in visible security measures when asked about securing specific types of transactions. While 41% of both digital-only and commercial bank customers want additional visible security measures when accessing their bank accounts from a new device, 34% of digital-only banking customers want these measures for subsequent access, versus 31% of traditional bank customers.

Download the report to learn more about consumers’ latest digital banking authentication preferences.