Security Not Vital To Online Financial Services Users

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?id=1666

By Steve Gold
2001-07-06

Security worries do not deter consumers in the U.S. and U.K. from
using online financial services, according to a new report from
Datamonitor.

They are, instead, being put off by Internet cost and knowledge
issues.

The study forms part of Datamonitor's annual impact survey of Internet
users on both sides of the Atlantic.

Datamonitor spokeswoman Krishna Rao told Newsbytes that this is the
third year in which the company has carried out its Impact research,
which looks U.S. and U.K. consumers' use of the Internet.

"The research covers areas such as energy, automotive,
telecommunications and technology industries, and allows us to create
a database, from which reports can be drawn," she said.

The electronic financial services (eFS) report found that, while
security appeared on many users' worry lists, the reliability of
information was also of primary concern.

The study concluded that Internet surfers only tend to worry about
security issues after they have used an online service, rather than
before.

The report, authored by Datamonitor analyst Derrick Brown, says that
security is not the only issue that online financial service providers
must address when it comes to getting users to buy.

In three of the six European countries surveyed, Datamonitor said it
found that those who do not use online financial services are more
likely to be concerned about the expense of the Internet.

"This means that perceptions of Internet cost may be keeping people
from banking online," says the report, adding that the effect is less
pronounced in the U.S. and the U.K., where Internet access costs are
lower than in other countries.

The research also found that consumers in the two nations are more
concerned about online security than those in continental Europe,
probably due to media reports about security breaches, Datamonitor
said.

The research took in responses from more than 7,500 research subjects
in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

Reported by Newsbytes




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