Today consumers rely on mobile apps and online services to manage their bank accounts, share funds and pay bills. This isn’t surprising given the digital world we live in, but now digital banking services are evolving beyond check deposits to include opening new accounts and applying for mortgages and loans. As a result, consumers are being asked to rely on their digital identities more than ever. As this adoption continues to grow, how can banks and financial institutions balance Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations to keep consumers safe but also meet consumers’ digital demands?
A recent survey conducted by Mitek showed that consumers are more willing to share their digital identity information with banking institutions (60%) over any other group — including government entities and tech companies. That’s because banks have a long-standing reputation with customers for trust and security, which gives them an advantage over other industries in the adoption of digital identity technologies.
“While retailers, streaming services and other industries are making strides to integrate digital identities into their offerings, those markets don’t yet have the trust that banks do,” said Max Carnecchia, CEO of Mitek. “That means the banking industry will continue to spearhead the growth and innovation of digital identity services over the next few years as other industries look to catch up to their consumer usage rates.”
Other key findings from the survey showed that:
- 65% of consumers consider their banking transactional history (including bank accounts, credit cards and financial transactions) to be part of their digital identity
- 86% currently use their digital identity for banking, and 16% without access to those services express interest in doing so in the future
- 78% of consumers are most concerned with theft and/or loss of money when using digital identity
- 52% of consumers are willing to share personal information with banks and other organizations in order to receive benefits or rewards, providing banks with an opportunity to use data to provide a more personalized experience
To see the full findings, download the report here.
Research Methodology
Mitek, in partnership with OpinionRoute, surveyed 1000+ respondents located in the United States and over the age of 18 on their awareness and use of digital identity. The survey was fielded from July 9-16, 2019, and included 40 questions on respondent’s awareness, comfort level, usage, benefits and concerns about digital identity, as well as demographic information on respondent’s location. Results were collected with an overall margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.