Understanding Consumer Sentiments About Financial Cybersecurity

I’ve long maintained that security can and should be leveraged as a competitive advantage, regardless of industry. But I’d like to expound upon this mantra: it holds particularly true for the financial services industry.

With consumers increasingly relying on web and mobile apps to conduct financial transactions, customer data has emerged as the new “oil” that powers financial institutions; it can be mined to upsell additional services over the long haul.

But if banks want to increase customer lifetime value, they first must protect this treasure trove of data. Why? Because privacy and security are top of mind for consumers.

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This isn’t just an educated guess on my part; Radware recently conducted a survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. consumers to better understand how they view financial security, how they’d react if their data was compromised, and what it all means for financial institutions today.

Spoiler alert: Financial institutions stand to lose business if they don’t prioritize security.

The fact is, data breaches and cyberattacks increase customer churn in an age when virtual transparency, relentless competition and frictionless account transitions have made it easy for consumers to switch financial institutions. And make no mistake — they will abandon their banks if their privacy and security are better prioritized elsewhere.

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I encourage you to read the full survey results report. And deeply consider how security isn’t an expenditure, but an investment in your customer lifetime value.