Thanks to its attractive cost structure, online banking has turned into an increasingly profitable business in the banking sector in recent years. But this innovative method of conducting banking transactions has been accompanied at the same time by previously unknown challenges concerning security (cf. BSI (2008) as example). Taking as its basis previous studies and in cooperation with researchers from three renowned European universities – London (LSE), Graz (TU), and Lucerne (HTA) – a survey was carried out among just under 400 bank customers and 18 interviews were conducted with security managers in the banking sector, i.e., with chief information security officers (CISO), other persons responsible for information security, and officers for online banking from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, England, and the Netherlands (cf. Liebenau and Kärrberg (2006), pp. 51 et seqq. and Georg (2007), pp. 321 et seqq.). 

Security Concerns and the Sensitivity of Bank Customers 

The waves of phishing e-mails in recent years are one of the major reasons why there is widespread skepticism among consumers which should not be taken lightly. 82% of the survey respondents who do not use online banking indicated that security concerns played a role in their decision not to use the service. But there is significant room for improvement in the confidence of customers who use online banking as well: 46% of all online banking users rate the probability that an unauthorized person could take advantage of security gaps in the online banking system to view account information as “medium” or even higher. In addition, 45% of the respondents gave their own insecurity regarding the risk potential or carelessness as a reason not to utilize online banking.

In the same vein, the survey revealed a great need for more information: about 60% of the respondents would like to know more details about security measures. An equally large number of respondents are interested in rankings which rate banks according to their security level. In the group of respondents over the age of 50, this share was even higher, at about 80%. Banking institutes which are more successful in countering the existing skepticism will presumably not only realize a higher penetration rate in the utilization of online banking, but can also count on a significant growth in the number of new customers. 43% of the European bank customers who were surveyed regard the factor “information security” to be “very important” or “important” when they make a decision in favor of a particular bank. 76% would even change banks if they learned of a number of current cases in which unauthorized persons were able to access sensitive information.