Data Security Now the Top New Zealand Consumer Priority When Choosing a Bank - New Unisys Research Finds

WELLINGTON, New Zealand and BLUE BELL, Pa., April 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Unisys Corporation UIS reveals New Zealand bank customers rank data security as the issue that matters to them most about their bank – underscoring the importance of data security as banks prepare to work with third-parties to roll out new services in an Open Banking environment.

The 2019 Asia Pacific Banking Insights: Trusting in the Banking Experience is a study of the attitudes of banking customers in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan. This year's report identifies which bank attributes matter most to consumers and explores the delicate relationship between security, convenience and trust in financial institutions.

The majority of New Zealanders (57 percent) cite the security and safety of customer data as the thing that matters to them most when engaging with a bank. More than half (54 percent) rank fast and efficient service as a priority, while 45 percent cite transparency.

"In November, the Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank cleared New Zealand banks of the widespread abuses of customers identified in the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. However the FMA/RBNZ found New Zealand banks were error-prone and some used sales incentives which worked against customers' interests," said Ian Selbie, industry director, Financial Services, Unisys Asia Pacific.

Of the five countries surveyed, New Zealand bank consumers have the second highest level of trust in banks to protect customer data with 41 percent of respondents citing banks as the organization they most trust to share personal data with, but the lowest level of trust in government (17 percent). Young people aged 18-24 represent the age group with the highest trust in banks (52 percent), but the lowest trust in government (17 percent).

"Open Banking creates a significant shift in several elements of the security and risk landscape. However, the potential benefits of Open Banking include improved customer experience and new revenue streams in a sustainable service model. This research shows that New Zealand banks currently enjoy a high level of customer trust, but as security is such a priority for customers, banks will need to keep that trust by visibly enhancing their security, compliance and ethical standards," said Selbie.

New Zealanders are increasingly frustrated by inefficient bank interactions and not being able to fully complete transactions online. They rank having to repeat themselves to different consultants or bank channels as the most annoying thing about their bank with 32 percent annoyed by this issue – up from 24 percent in 2018. They also have the region's highest level of frustration with online services that require a visit to a branch or printing a form (19 percent of respondents – up from 12 percent from the previous year). And those aged 18-34 are almost twice as annoyed by this as older New Zealanders.

"While New Zealand banks provide a good digital experience, they still fail to provide a true omnichannel experience across all touch points. And younger Kiwis, the growing segment of their customer base, expect online services to be a complete and consistent end-to-end service," said Selbie.

The vast majority of New Zealanders are comfortable using voice, face or fingerprint recognition to access mobile banking apps (57 percent) or facial or fingerprint recognition at an ATM (67 percent). Slightly fewer (60 percent) are comfortable using voice recognition when calling the bank's call center. However they are yet to embrace behavioral biometrics with only 32 percent comfortable with a bank tracking the unique way a person scrolls through websites, types on a phone or presses buttons, to verify identity. Of those who don't support using biometrics in banking, most say they are 'just not comfortable' (40 percent) or are concerned about data security (35 percent).

For more information, download the full Asia Pacific Banking Insights survey report or infographic visit: www.unisys.com/BankingInsightsAPAC.

More than 450 financial institutions worldwide rely on Unisys solutions. Elevate™ is an end-to-end, digital banking software platform and suite of applications designed to help financial institutions deliver an instantly secure, omnichannel banking experience to their customers. Elevate is secured with Unisys' Stealth^®, an identity-based micro-segmentation security software that allows banks to microsegment and conceal critical assets and establish encrypted channels for secure user, application and system communication.

For more information on Unisys' financial services capabilities, please click here.

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