EQUIFAX SURVEY REVEALS CONSUMER ATTITUDES TO ID CHECKS
London, 17th November, 2004 – An independent survey from Equifax Ltd into consumer attitudes to ID checking by financial institutions reveals a clear consumer preference for electronic identity verification solutions. 86% of consumers surveyed who had undergone electronic ID checking found the process convenient, compared to only 46% of those who were required to provide paper documentation to prove their identity.
The results of this survey will help financial service providers identify a way of striking the balance between maintaining robust identity checks and meeting consumers’ needs for fast and easy access to financial services.
Neil Lewis, Head of Fraud Services at Equifax comments: “Sight of physical documentation is still being adopted by the financial services industry as the primary method of proving an identity, but the survey has highlighted some of the difficulties that this approach creates, not least the inconvenience to consumers.’’
One key statistic from the survey highlights that some 54% of consumers asked for documentary proof of identity had to revisit the service provider to complete the process. This compares to only 5% who were put through electronic checks.
Neil Lewis, continues, ‘’The survey results endorse what the stakeholders at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) led discussions have been saying - electronic verification is a valid approach to ID checking, and has advantages over documentary verification.”
Equifax has been working closely with the FSA to help the industry tackle the issues of ensuring compliance with regulations and meeting the needs of consumers for easy and convenient access to financial services.
The recent FSA report, ‘ID – Diffusing the issue’, focuses on the problems associated with the ID verification of consumers and calls on the financial services industry to find effective ways of overcoming the problems. Equifax fully supports such an initiative and is committed to developing electronic solutions that assist lenders and consumers alike.
Neil Lewis, concludes, “It is crucial that the financial industry continues to fight ID fraud and money laundering without undermining its relationship with its customers. Electronic checking enables organisations to meet this challenge.’’
Other key findings from the Equifax survey were:
- 43% of the survey respondents were existing customers of financial service providers
- 28% had been a customer for ten years or more
- 75% were asked to provide documentary proof of identity
- The most common documentary identity proof requested was a passport and utility bill (63%), followed by driving licence (56%) and bank statement (46%)
- 22% did not have the this documentation readily to hand
- 30% were required to visit the financial service provider more than once to prove their identity
- 52% did not have the reason for having to prove their identity explained to them
- 65% believed that identity checking can help protect them for identity theft
