Many Brits now do not trust online banking

Almost half of people living in the UK (48 percent) fear either their identities, or their banking data will be stolen. Those are the results of a new survey from financial technology company Intelligent Environments. According to the report, the fear is well founded, with 20 percent of Britons being victims to some type of cyber-crime, either identity theft or bank details theft.

The report reveals a cybersecurity map of Britain. In it, it says that Birmingham is most concerned with cybersecurity, with 57 percent fearing banking information theft, and 59 percent identity theft. Birmingham is followed by Newcastle and Cardiff.

But perhaps the most important revelation of the report is that people are refraining from using online banking in the first place, thanks to security threats. Twenty-two percent don’t trust digital banking apps, and 12 percent don’t trust online banking. Another seven percent have given up on online banking having been victims to an attack.

"People are more on edge these days, and with good reason", says managing director of Intelligent Environments, David Webber. "High profile hacking attacks on organizations like Ashley Madison, Bitdefender and TalkTalk as recently as six months ago have put the issues at the top of people’s minds, and as a result they are rightfully concerned about their security online. Of course, banking data is always going to be a primary concern as it’s particularly attractive to hackers. We’re therefore calling on banks to play a more active role in educating customers on how best to keep themselves and their financial information safe while they’re online".

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