If you stay up late at night worrying about your financial security, you’re not alone. Plenty of consumers are on high alert when it comes to their sensitive financial information.
More Americans report being very concerned about the security of their financial information, according to the Unisys Security Index Report. The study shows a steady increase in the number of consumers who are concerned about their financial security. Approximately 35% expressed concern, compared with 28% this time last year.
The report suggests that the recent credit card breaches at Target, Michaels, and Neiman Marcus might explain the spike.
Consumers are also afraid of fraudsters getting their hands on their credit or debit card details.
More than half (59%) of the survey respondents report they are very or extremely concerned about this. A smaller percentage—17%—do not feel any concern about having their credit or debit card information compromised. This is down from 18% in 2013 and 19% in 2012.Furthermore, close to four out of 10 respondents say they are very concerned about online shopping and online banking. About 34% say they are not concerned at all.
Computer security is also top of mind for many consumers. About 36% of survey respondents say they are worried about spam emails and viruses affecting their computers.
“A significant finding is the fact that 59% of those surveyed said they would be less likely to do business with a company after a security data breach. If stores continue to suffer data breaches like they have been over the last few months, this could be quite a blow to the retail community,†says the Unisys Security Index Report.