Mitek survey shows consumers trust banks and distrust social media with digital identity

Consumers are more willing to share their digital identity information with banks than they are with government entities or tech companies, according to survey results released by Mitek.

This may be at least in part because nearly two of three consumers (65 percent) consider their banking transactional history, including bank accounts, credit cards, and financial transactions, to be part of their digital identity. Most people who can use their digital identity for banking do so (86 percent), and 16 percent of those who do not have access to such services say they would do so in the future, according to the ‘Digital identity 2020: The future of banking.’

Online shopping (76 percent) and streaming services (72 percent) are the most popular consumer applications using digital identity, beyond financial services.

The report covers how financial institutions can balance KYC and AML regulations and the safety of consumer data with the level of convenience consumers expect.

“While retailers, streaming services and other industries are making strides to integrate digital identities into their offerings, those markets don’t yet have the trust that banks do,” says Max Carnecchia, CEO of Mitek. “That means the banking industry will continue to spearhead the growth and innovation of digital identity services over the next few years as other industries look to catch up to their consumer usage rates.”

Theft or loss of money is the primary concern of 78 percent of consumers when using digital identity, the survey shows. While 65 percent trust banks with their data, compared to 19 percent who distrust them, and 30 percent more consumers saying they trust government entities than distrust them (48 percent to 18 percent), nearly equal numbers trust and distrust tech companies, and three-quarters say they distrust social media companies.

Given the option to share personal information with banks or other organizations to receive benefits or rewards just over half (52 percent) say they would do so. At the same time, 60 percent say physical documents are safer than digital IDs for banking, indicating a significant amount of work remains to be done in building trust online.

Mitek recently announced a full-year gain in revenue of 33 percent for fiscal 2019.

Article Topics

banking  |  biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  digital identity  |  KYC  |  Mitek  |  secure transactions