Security Concerns Pertaining to Financial Services and Online Shopping Run High Amongst Indians – 2020 Unisys Security Index™

• Unisys Security Index™ 2020, the longest running snapshot of consumer security concerns conducted globally, reveals 82% Indians are concerned about unauthorized access to credit card or debit card details and online banking
• Of the 15 countries surveyed, India recorded the highest level of concern about the security of shopping online, with 82% seriously concerned
• Indians willing to share travel data with government for faster security checks at airports

BANGALORE, India, July 29, 2020 – Findings from the 2020 Unisys Security Index™ from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) reveal that Indians have a high level of concern about the security of shopping online, with 82% of Indians concerned about this issue. Security concerns pertaining to the financial services sector were equally high with 82% concerned about unauthorized access to credit card or debit card details and online.

When it came to willingness to use a mobile app with facial recognition to access various services, the percentage of individuals willing to take this route to avail financial services such as credit cards or home loans was considerably less as compared to other online services considered. Indians also expressed unwillingness to share personal data on buying habits with their banks or retailers, despite benefits such as alerts about suspicious activity or personalized offers from retailers. The top reason given for this unwillingness was attributed to concern around security of the data shared.

The findings also revealed that the majority of Indians are willing to share private data with the government in return for citizen benefits. This includes location data so police can find them in an emergency or data on their travel habits so they can get through airport security quickly, with 79% and 73% of respondents willing to share this data with the government. The study revealed that 73% respondents were willing to share health record data with insurance companies for recommendations on addressing potential medical issues and 72% were willing to share data with government agencies to expedite access to services such as driver’s license and government benefits.

“The findings show Indian consumers are very aware of data security threats in the digital world with financial data targeted by malicious attacks. While the pandemic has forced many of us to adopt digital platforms for financial transactions, consumers are very concerned about data security. This is a call to financial services organizations to secure their digital platforms and reassure their consumers about the safety of their digital transactions. A Zero Trust security posture is critical to building customer trust and loyalty in this space,” says, Sumed Marwaha, managing director, Unisys India and regional vice president, Services, Unisys.

Ajay Prabhakar, industry manager, Travel and Transportation, Unisys India notes: “The survey revealed a whopping 73% of Indian consumers are willing to share data on their travel habits with the government so they can get through airport security quickly. The onus is now on airports to have the right mechanisms in place to enable travelers to share this data in a secure manner and use it judiciously to provide value-added services to consumers. Investments in biometric authentication, data security and analytics will help deliver a seamless and secure travel experience to travelers.”

2020 Unisys Security Index™: Data Sharing Acceptable in Emergencies
Globally, consumers demonstrated similar preferences when it came to sharing their personal data with government rather than private organizations. Willingness is dependent on the type of organization and the purpose for which the collected data. In general, public sector usage, such as the police or government agencies, was considered more acceptable than usage by private sector businesses. And there is higher willingness where the data is used for emergency assistance or security alerts, rather than personalizing retail offers. People are most willing to share data if it is with the police and for the purpose of finding them in an emergency (61% willing); whereas they are least willing to share data with retailers in return for personalized offers (only 38% willing).

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of contact-tracing in containing the pandemic appear to have played a role in defining the mindset of consumers towards data sharing. Like in India, security of the data shared is the most important concern globally as well that made consumers unwilling to share their data,” explained Seshadri PS, senior director, Office of the CISO.

For more information about the 2020 Unisys Security Index™, India, please click here.

About the Unisys Security Index™
Unisys has conducted the Unisys Security Index™ – the longest-running snapshot of consumer security concerns conducted globally – since 2007 to provide an ongoing, statistically-robust measure of concern about security. The index is a calculated score out of 300 covering changing consumer attitudes over time across eight areas of security: national security in relation to war or terrorism, disaster/epidemic, bankcard fraud, financial obligations, viruses/hacking, online transactions, identity theft and personal safety. The 2020 Unisys Security Index™ is based on online surveys conducted 16 March – 5 April 2020. The survey is conducted across nationally representative samples of at least 1,000 adults in each of the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. The margin of error at a country level is +/-3.1% at 95% confidence level, and +/-0.8% at a global level. During the research, the COVID-19 pandemic was prevalent in each of the countries surveyed.

About Unisys
Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the government, financial services and commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com.

Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contacts:

Reshmi Nair, Unisys India, +91 99-0019-6110
reshmi.nair@in.unisys.com

Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder.