South Africans more open to online security than others – report

SOUTH Africans, unlike their global counterparts, are more open to security for online activities such as banking and shopping, and businesses are looking at ways to detect online security risks earlier without compromising customer experience.

This is according to Experian’s 2018 Global Fraud and Identity Report, which looked at how confident businesses are in accurately identifying their customers and managing fraud.

The report, conducted between June and October last year in South Africa, the US, India, Brazil, Turkey and the UK, outlined consumer and business attitudes to fraud and security when online banking and shopping.

Mark Wells, the chief customer officer at Experian South Africa, said the report showed that South Africans, like people in India, responded well to security measures.

“These offer a level of comfort for consumers that their details are secure and inaccessible to opportunists. Businesses, in turn, continue to do their best to provide this support to their customers by constantly updating their fraud detection methods and keeping one step ahead of fraudsters,” said Wells.

He said South African respondents, at 74%, were more open to security than responses recorded in most countries, such as US, 69%; UK, 66%; Brazil, 63% and China, 62%.

“With 95% of South Africans’ online activities used mainly for personal banking services such as savings and investments, and the purchase of goods and services, it comes as no surprise that consumers want to be assured that their personal information and details are safeguarded at all times,” he said.

However, he said the Experian findings showed there was a growing need for more intuitive styles of security and about 62% of South African business respondents said they would welcome security features that recognised them without being required to manually share a lot of personal information.

Wells said 89% of organisations believed there were better ways to reduce fraud without impacting the consumer’s digital experience and 84% of South African respondents said their business would be interested in advanced security measures and authentication processes.

He said organisations that took part in the survey said products they would like to use as future methods for detecting and preventing fraud included device intelligence, 35%; transaction history and spending patterns, 27%; and machine learning fraud engines, 24%.

“Fraud in South Africa, like the rest of the world, remains a growing concern with businesses seeking ways to secure their customers against fastpaced online fraudsters. It is, however, positive that businesses are adopting innovative approaches towards earlier detection, while still meeting their customers’ need for safety,” said Wells.