With cybercrimes reaching unprecedented levels and impacting businesses in every industry, consumers are naturally wary of providing personal information online. Financial institutions continually rank among the most trusted organizations with which consumers do business, but FIs can quickly lose their coveted ground if their customers or members lose cyber-trust due to lack of privacy protections and transparency.

Javelin Strategy & Research’s “Cyber-Trust in Banking Scorecard,” which ranked 21 U.S. FIs on consumer privacy, cybersecurity empowerment, and cybersecurity education, finds that FIs that focus on focusing on privacy, empowerment and education for customers and members are the best situated to cultivate trustworthiness and long-term relationships.

PaymentsJournalFIs That Prioritize Cyber-Trust Have Much to GainPaymentsJournal FIs That Prioritize Cyber-Trust Have Much to GainPaymentsJournaljQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap27963882 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"off" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",settings_backup_type:"full",playfrom:"default",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"off",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "ef6b13",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_comments_playerid:"27963882",php_retriever:"https://www.paymentsjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_405696_26",settings_ap27963882); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

Cyber-Trust Defined

What is cyber-trust and why is it important that financial institutions nurture this among their members and customers?

“The relationship between a consumer and the organization that they are doing repeated business with is contingent on trust,” said Suzanne Sando, senior analyst of Fraud & Security at Javelin. “You’re not going to go back and continue to do business with a company that you don’t feel takes you seriously or takes your privacy and your general livelihood seriously. Looking through the lens of financial institutions, they are arguably one of the most trusted organizations, which I think is why building and maintaining what we call cyber-trust is so important for FIs.”

“The impetus for this Cyber-Trust in Banking Scorecard was for us to get a feel for how much our financial institutions in the U.S. are focusing on empowering consumers from a cybersecurity perspective,” said Tracy Kitten, director of Fraud & Security at Javelin. “What’s interesting and ironic about it is that right after our report published, we saw so many institutions putting into motion some of the recommendations that we listed in the report.”

This comes as Congress continues to come down on FIs have responded positively, as they have made changes in the right direction.

How Consumers Define Cyber-Trust

The scorecard revealed how consumers’ trust in their FIs determines consumers’ willingness to surrender personal data. However, the FI must still handle consumers’ personal data responsibly.

“Consumers who trust their primary financial institution are more comfortable than those who don’t trust their FI with cybersec...