Merchants may be reluctant to make their customers jump through hoops in order to pay them for their purchases, but when it comes to payment security, a new report indicates that consumers don’t mind.
People are willing to do more to protect themselves from falling victim to fraud, according to the 2016 American Express Digital Payments Security Survey.
For example, 78% of survey respondents said they would enter a security code for their credit card when buying something online, but only 57% of merchants require them to do so. And 70% would answer online security questions, but only 43% of merchants ask them. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said they would create a one-time password, while only 37% of merchants require such a password, and 63% of customers would create a profile on the merchant website in order to make a purchase. Only 46% of merchants require a customer profile to complete a transaction.
In some areas, customers still fall short
On the other hand, there are things consumers could do that they aren’t. It’s recommended that people use a different password for each of their online accounts; less than half of them (44%) do so. And only 30% change their passwords at least once a year, as security experts say to do. Seventeen percent never change their banking or payment passwords at all.
American Express guidelines recommend that cardmembers create different passwords for all of their banking, social media, and email accounts and change these passwords every six months to a year.
Almost half of consumers have been victims of payment fraud
The report revealed that 48% of consumers who made purchases online in the last year have fallen prey to payment fraud. That’s almost 80 million online consumers. Forty percent of those surveyed said they believe shopping online is riskier than shopping in a store, and 42% say they’ve stopped shopping online at all due to security worries.
The report included answers from 1,021 consumers across the United States, as well as 401 merchants.
American Express has several safeguards in place to prevent card fraud, including authentication tools, enhanced authorization protocols, and fraud-management technology.