Data Brief: 75 Pct Of Bank Customers Still Access Accounts With Username And Password, Despite Preference

About half of consumers used digital wallets to shop and manage spend in the past 12 months — a convenience that comes at the cost of more exposure to device-based security risks.

PYMNTS’ July 2021 Generation Superconnected: The Coming User Authentication Shift Report, a collaboration with Nok Nok Labs, surveyed over 2,100 adult consumers about their preferences around personal information and the merchants and digital platforms to which they entrust it.

This excerpt focuses on key issues impacting the superconnected — those who own six or more connected devices on average — and their login and authentication preferences. More devices mean more exposure to cyber risk, which in turn is heightening interest among these consumers for two-factor and three-factor authentication — known as 2FA and 3FA, respectively.

Finding that three-quarters of consumers employ usernames and passwords to access bank accounts, yet only 42 percent prefer them, the data sheds light on new login leanings.

“Younger, affluent and urban consumers are increasing their use of digital and mobile banking and are the most interested in new digital security measures,”per the report, which adds that “the affluent and urban dwellers are the most interested in enhanced security measures, such as the two-factor authentication (2FA) or three-factor authentication (3FA) methods that power passwordless authentication.”