PaymentsJournal
SUBSCRIBE
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
  • Analysts Coverage
  • Truth In Data
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Industry Opinions
  • News
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
PaymentsJournal
No Result
View All Result

The Shifting Sands of Consumer Privacy Concerns

Tristan Hugo-Webb by Tristan Hugo-Webb
July 22, 2013
in Uncategorized
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Consumers are a notoriously fickle group. Onemoment, something is of extreme value, and the next, it’sforgotten, and apparently consumer payment privacy concerns are noexception. Two headlines last month in the United Kingdom thatgrabbed my attention both suggested consumers may have becomeeither indifferent to payment data collection or are recognizingsome of its benefits.

The first headline involved Barclays, which announced itintended to sell anonymous customer data to interested parties, asharp turnaround for the industry which saw MasterCard have todefend its practice of selling consumer data last year. Barclays’announcement was similar to those from mobile providers Vodafone,EE and O2. The bank extolled the benefits of collecting data insituations such as fraud protection, but it remains to be seenwhether this type of full disclosure from the start is enough toprevent consumer backlash about the plan.

The two-pronged approach of full disclosure and highlighting thebenefits of data collection may be a successful strategy,especially if fraud prevention is identified as a major issue. Thesecond headline detailed the findings of a recent Infosys survey and seemed toconfirm this notion. Some 86 percent of respondents expect theirfinancial institution to mine their data to help fraud.Seventy-seven percent would consider switching their financialinstitution if a competitor could promise greater security for bothsensitive personal and financial details.

Financial institutions and other payments industry players finddata collected from consumers is increasingly priceless internally(in an effort to develop more effective products and offerings) andexternally (to sell it to advertisement firms and others). Consumergroups, however, just a few months ago heavily criticizedMasterCard when a presentation highlighting the benefits ofpurchasing consumer data collected by the international cardnetwork came to light. MasterCard quickly moved to calm consumeradvocacy groups, and like Barclays, reinforced that any data soldwas scrubbed of sensitive personal and financial details.

Barclays’ strategy to fully alert its customer about datapractices is a step towards improved communication betweenfinancial institutions and a largely frustrated and untrustingconsumer base. But the disclosure also opens it and others toimmense consumer backlash if the data is somehow compromised.

While no major de-anonymization attacks (the process in whichsupposedly anonymous data is manipulated to identity uniqueindividuals) have been recorded to date, the potential for anattack or leak is growing with more data changing hands. While thecollection of consumer payment data is too valuable for thepractice to end, financial institutions and other members of thepayment industry need to be prepared to face the additionalrisks.

Mercator Advisory Group examines de-anonymization in a ResearchNote, De-anonymization: Potential Impact on Payment DataCollection.

Tags: Banking ChannelsCompliance and RegulationCreditDebitFraud Risk and AnalyticsMercator InsightsMerchant AcquiringMobile PaymentsPrepaidSelf Service and Convenience
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

    Analyst Coverage, Payments Data, and News Delivered Daily

    Sign up for the PaymentsJournal Newsletter to get exclusive insight and data from Mercator Advisory Group analysts and industry professionals.

    Must Reads

    eCommerce On Social Media, social commerce

    The Rise of Social Commerce and Social Payments

    February 3, 2023
    Electroneum AnyTask; ETN Crypto, sales enablement

    Ethical Financial Selling: The Role of Compliance Technology and Sales Enablement

    February 2, 2023
    direct deposit

    Nacha Launches Campaign to Reach Millennials on the Benefits of Direct Deposit

    February 1, 2023
    Equinix Helps UK-Based Payments Provider Enable Faster, More Reliable Payments Processing

    Equinix Helps UK-Based Payments Provider Enable Faster, More Reliable Payments Processing

    January 31, 2023
    credit card tumbling

    How to Detect, and Prevent, Credit Card Tumbling

    January 30, 2023
    Why Businesses Need to Adopt Real-Time Payments as a Competitive Differentiator

    Why Businesses Need to Adopt Real-Time Payments as a Competitive Differentiator

    January 27, 2023
    faster payments

    Faster Payments Are Set to Revolutionize Modern Digital Payments

    January 26, 2023
    How AI can Help Manage Payments Risk in 2023

    How AI can Help Manage Payments Risk in 2023

    January 25, 2023

    • Advertise With Us
    • About Us
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe
    ADVERTISEMENT
    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Industry Opinions
    • News
    • Resources

    © 2022 PaymentsJournal.com

    • Analysts Coverage
    • Truth In Data
    • Podcasts
    • Industry Opinions
    • Faster Payments
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Events
    No Result
    View All Result

      Register to download the Equinix report - Dojo Delivers Fast, Reliable and Secure Card Payments to Businesses on Platform Equinix