Only 9% of Consumers Are Comfortable Connecting Bank Accounts to Third-Party Apps

Consumers crave the convenience of the connected economy, but they still want the security of knowing that their money is safe if they share their bank account credentials with a third-party app. 

While analyzing findings from a survey of 2,368 consumers, PYMNTS identified four groups — or personas — based on their sentiments regarding connecting bank accounts to financial apps. 

Fifty-eight percent of consumers who have at least one third-party app connected to a bank account fall into the persona called “Uncomfortable,” according to “Sharing Bank Account Credentials With Third Parties: Convenience Versus Security,” a PYMNTS and MX collaboration.

Get the study: Convenience+Security: Key Consumer Finding on Third-Party Financial Data Aggregation

Two other personas that are not quite certain about sharing bank credentials with third-party apps are identified in the study as “Uncertain,” accounting for 27% of consumers, and “Security Seekers,” at 6%. Consumers in these two personas say there are factors that would make them comfortable sharing bank credentials with third-party apps. 

Only 9% of the consumers who connect bank accounts with third-party apps are “Certain.” These consumers will share their bank credentials with third-party apps and want all of the banks’ and app providers’ security and convenience features. 

Get the study: Convenience+Security: Key Consumer Finding on Third-Party Financial Data Aggregation

Consumers in both the “Uncertain” and “Security Seekers” personas say there are three factors involving security and convenience that would make them comfortable sharing account information: trust in the financial institution to protect their financial assets, belief that the connections are secure and trust in the third party to which they’re connecting. 

Conversely, there are three factors that more than half of the consumers say would make them uncomfortable about sharing bank credentials: worries about theft of their money, not wanting to provide their account credentials to so many providers and lack of belief that their connections are secure.