Survey: Australians are not happy to disclose personal financial data

A recent survey has determined that Australians are not thrilled at the prospect of sharing their personal financial data with fintech. In fact, a survey by Accenture revealed that overall, 66% of the 2,000 Australians were not willing to share financial data with institutions that are not banks. That being said, the younger portion of the population is more receptive to sharing financial data with non-banking institutions. To understand more about this issue, consider the information below:

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Why Is this the case?

Where the survey and research has been quite revealing is surrounding the older population in Australia’s lack of understanding about whether Open Banking would be more effective than traditional banking. Within this question, there is a debate about whether third party banking platforms, Apps or institutions would be able to provide a superior service that is actually worth the risk of trusting that provider with personal financial information. Generally speaking, the older sector of the Australian population is fiscally traditional in the sense that they want to trust traditional banks rather than advanced payment options that are available today. There is a psychological impact here in that there is a potential stress caused to the consumer worrying about who has access to their financial information in the age where identity theft and hacking can be quite commonplace.

Which audiences are more open to sharing data and why?

What is fascinating about the younger generation in Australia is that they are more receptive to sharing their financial data. This could be related to the fact that their generation has been more exposed to the world of App and Smart Phones than generations before them. Growing up exposed to Apps shows a convenience that is difficult for traditional banking institutions to match. In this case, the younger generation sees the potential benefits from allowing third party Apps, platforms or fintech institutions access to their financial data for better and more efficient payment methods.

What Is the global opinion on this issue?

The younger generation in the United States has taken a slightly different stance on the issue of data protection and private financial information due to the multitude of hacking cases that occurred with multinational companies in the United States in the past decade. The importance of the information collected by Deloitte’s report is that consumers do not forgive and forget past scandals with data protection. In fact, they are cautious after so many issues have occurred. That said, they are receptive to open data social media sharing in countries like the United States and have also embraced payment methods such as Zelle that has direct access to their bank accounts to send money through a third party.

 

Final Remarks on the Subject

The protection of consumer’s private data has become an issue worldwide. This is particularly true for financial information. In Australia, it is not surprising that the older generation is more reluctant to share information with third party Apps, platforms or institutions facilitating payment methods. The crux of the issue is related to consumers weighing the value of the ease of payment with the overall risk. Once this is explained, it is highly likely that consumers will be more receptive in Australia in future years as these payment methods develop and offer better services for a lower price than traditional banking institutions.