Online transactions make users feel vulnerable

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Given these attitudes, it appears online payment providers are suffering from a lack of consumer confidence in their security measures.

The survey shows that 77% of users in South Africa fear financial fraud on the internet, and the data uncovered numerous examples of consumer uneasiness. For example, 45% of those who make payments online are sure that even the official mobile applications offered by financial companies require more protection before they're truly secure. In addition, 48% of users locally report terminating a financial operation in the middle of the process because they were unsure about the security of the transaction.

The level of protection against cyber fraud is an important factor for users when choosing an e-store or a financial service operator: 71% of respondents said they would prefer companies that offer additional security measures to protect financial data. Moreover, 80% of those surveyed expect banks, online payment systems and online stores to protect their computers and mobile devices from financial fraud.

Own security measures

At the same time, many users are aware that they need to implement their own security measures in addition to the protections offered by their payment providers. While 11% of users locally place full responsibility for the security of financial transactions on the banks and 21% believe they themselves are solely responsible, the majority (64%) of those surveyed think that both users and banks should be responsible for the protection of financial information. This suggests that users would be eager to accept new tools from their financial organisations to help manage their shared responsibility of preventing online fraud.

"Many users still feel safer paying cash or using their bank card at a physical point of sale, rather than purchasing online with their computer or mobile device, and this reluctance hampers the development of the online payment market. To encourage people to start using electronic payment services more actively, banks, online stores and e-pay systems need to reassure users that they are safe from cyber fraudsters.

"One way is for payment service providers to offer extra security layers that are designed specifically to protect banking transactions and payments made online or from mobile devices against financial fraud. The presence of these additional transaction-focused protections gives users immediate and visible reassurance that their money will be secure," said Ross Hogan, Global Head of the Fraud Prevention Division of Kaspersky Lab.

One way to achieve increased confidence in online payment systems and mobile payment platforms is with the help of the Kaspersky Fraud Prevention platform. The components of this multilevel solution are installed in both the business' IT infrastructure and on client devices including computers, tablets and smartphones working on different platforms. Additionally, the solution integrates tools that can be used to create protected mobile apps based on Kaspersky Lab's advanced technologies, as well as intellectual services providing information about the latest cyber threats and ways to combat them.