U.S. consumers trust banks more than any other entity to protect them from fraud, a new survey has found.
According to the survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Bankers Association, half of all surveyed consumers said the trusted banks more than they trusted healthcare providers, non-bank fintech payment providers, the government, cryptocurrency companies, major retails and telecom companies.
“Financial predators are more sophisticated than ever, and America’s banks are leading the charge to protect their customers from these threats,” Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO, said. “Consumers recognize and appreciate banks’ round-the-clock efforts to detect and combat fraud, and our industry continues to leverage award-winning consumer education campaigns and other tools to empower Americans to spot scams before they can do harm.”
The survey found that 87 percent of bank customers said their bank takes proactive steps to protect them from fraud and scams, while 74 percent believe their bank does more than businesses in other industries to protect them. Nearly 60 percent of consumers have received a fraud alert from their banks about suspicious activity on their account, and nearly all (96 percent) found the alerts valuable.
The survey also found that 62 percent of those receiving fraud alerts were concerned when told government regulations could prevent banks from sending those alerts if a consumer tells its bank to stop sending marketing messages. Additionally, those surveyed said they felt their banking data should not be shared with budgeting apps or loan services if it could put consumers at risk (80 percent) and that data aggregators that are monetizing the data obtained from banks should share in the operating costs (70 percent). Eight out of 10 consumers said companies shouldn’t use the data they obtain from banks to train AI models or to develop new products and services with consumer consent.
“The survey shows that consumers agree that everyone in the open banking ecosystem should be subject to the same rules and that sensitive personal financial information should not be used by data aggregators to power AI models or for market research absent a consumer’s clear permission,” said Nichols. “Banks should be empowered to lower the risk of data breaches and unauthorized activity to protect consumers while ensuring they can safely share their data with companies they trust.”