Consumers Blame Merchants For Data Breaches

For consumers, the recent data breaches at major retailers are an unsettling reminder that cardholder data may not be as secure as they might like it to be. A survey of 1,000 consumers conducted by TSYS had some surprising findings about who consumers hold responsible for the breach (the merchants and their expectations of themselves, their issuers and card networks in a post-breach world. Get the latest.

 

With recent news of major security breaches involving retailers like Target and Sally Beauty populating media sites around the nation, merchants and issuers are likely wondering how this is affecting U.S. consumer behavior as a whole – and rethinking their own security strategies. Just how aware are consumers of these incidents, who are they putting at fault?

To get more insight on these questions, TSYS released an infographic titled “Consumer Insecurity About Data Insecurity” highlighting the results of a survey conducted with more than 1,000 respondents.

 

WHO IS AWARE OF RECENT DATA SECURITY BREACHES?

About 83 percent of respondents said that they were aware of these incidents and 75 percent said they heard about them through media coverage.

 

WHO DO CONSUMERS HOLD RESPONSIBLE?

Consumers, about 64 percent, indicated that they held merchants responsible for these breaches, while 28 percent said the banks and card networks were at fault. However, 67 percent said they expected their banks and card networks to notify them when these incidents occur. And when it comes to making up for the damage and making the situation right, 61 percent of consumers said that it was up to the banks and card networks.

 

HOW ARE CONSUMERS RESPONDING?

Of those who responded to the TSYS survey, 88 percent said that consumers should play a role in protecting themselves against these breaches. Some, about 31 percent, said that they were willing to pay for added security features. In addition, half of the cardholders surveyed were interested in a specific four of these features.

Respondents who said they would switch banks for one that offered better security features totaled to 63 percent, and 71 percent said they’d switch banks for one that guaranteed all losses would be reimbursed.

 


Learn more about the study and get a prescription for issuer success by downloading the TSYS infographic here

Consumer-Insecurity-about-Data-Security