Most Canadians concerned about online banking cyber crime: Survey

But only 21% would be willing to pay a small fee for enhanced cybersecurity protection

Published Oct 16, 2024  •  2 minute read

Recession? Canada is already living through one, writes Lorne Gunter, Photo by Getty Images

A new Angus Reid survey done for ISA Cybersecurity found 78% of Canadians are concerned about cyber crime when it comes to online banking.

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And 76% of respondents expressed concern about the possibility of a data breach at their financial institution in general with 22% of those being extremely concerned.

The poll also found 53% of respondents would likely switch to a different bank if their current one had a data breach.

The study says 73% consider a financial institution’s cybersecurity measures (such as protection from scammers, deep fakes, etc.) when thinking about switching or staying with their current bank.

The poll found close to 23% aren’t confident in their bank’s ability to protect their personal information from cyber threats.

“The survey results signal an opportunity for financial institutions to boost their efforts to protect and reassure clients at a time when cyber crime against banks is increasing in frequency and complexity and Canadians are concerned about the potential for service disruptions or data leaks,” Kevin Dawson, president  and CEO of ISA Cybersecurity, said in a statement.

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“Surprisingly, despite increased investments in cybersecurity by Canadian banks in recent years, 62% of those surveyed reported that they rarely, or never, hear from their financial institution regarding cybersecurity practices.”

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In terms of doing their part to help banks safeguard their data, 95% were willing to use extra security measures, such as multi-factor authentication or phone text codes.

But only 21% would be willing to pay a small fee to get enhanced cybersecurity protection for their accounts and personal information.

The poll found only 54% have used biometrics (face recognition, etc.) to access their financial accounts, with half expressing concern about scammers mimicking their biometrics data.

The survey also says 46% of participants have not used biometric authentication to access financial accounts and 58% of those who have not used it are unlikely to consider using it.

The poll was conducted by Angus Reid for ISA Cybersecurity from Sept. 25-30 with 1,519 online Canadians with a probability sample of this size carrying a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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