Survey: Financial Customers Value Security, Consistency

Security is an essential component in determining whether a consumer trusts their financial provider, but so too is a good user experience.

PYMNTS’ research finds that trusted user experiences are highly important to consumers when accessing digital accounts. In fact, 80% of consumers say that having a good user experience has a “very” or “extremely” large impact on whether they trust their financial services providers.

One crucial measure that affects user experience is consistency, with 53% of consumers saying that a consistent experience across different platforms — including online banking, app banking, and using the institution’s card for eCommerce — has a “very” or “extremely” big effect on their trust in their financial institutions.

Another 31% say it has a “moderate” impact. This share rises among consumers who access their accounts primarily by mobile apps or across multiple environments, at 60% and 58%, respectively. In other words, two groups one would expect to notice the consistency or inconsistency that a provider may have engineered.

Read more: REPORT: Two-Thirds of US Digital Banking Customers Choose Security Over Convenience

That doesn’t mean that security isn’t important. It remains a key concern when consumers are building trust. In fact, 83% of the consumers we surveyed said that their financial service provider offering at least one security-enhancing feature has a “very” or “extremely” big impact on their trust in that company.

In addition, 65% of the banking customers surveyed said that providers’ emphasis on data security has the same high level of impact on their trust.

Our research found that 60% of consumers say that having information about how their transactions are secured has a “very” or “extremely” big impact on their trust, and 44% of consumers say that the ability to log in without passwords has a similarly significant impact.

For more on our findings, download your copy of The Future Of Authentication In Financial Services Playbook, a PYMNTS and Entersekt collaboration.