Is Security Really The Barrier to Adoption?
An Israeli company called WorkLight conducted an interesting survey of 1000 Facebook users, ages 18-34, asking questions related to banking using Web 2.0 applications. In response to the question, "If another bank offered Web 2.0 gadgets for personal banking, would you consider switching banks?", 27% said yes an 73% said no. Of the 27%, 12% said "highly likely" and 15% said "yes." In addition, 48% of all respondents said they would use Web 2.0 tools if offered by their current bank.
If I had to make an educated guess about the survey respondents, I would guess that nearly half, if not more, would be hard pressed to tell you what a "Web 2.0 application" is. I also would suspect that nearly all would be unable to define what a Web 2.0 banking application would do. In fact, the question is very ambiguous. A better question would be, "Would you consider using a secure banking application within a social media network such as Facebook, iGoogle or MySpace?"
A lot of the focus in the mobile and social media community around banking applications is on security - as in - security is the barrier to user adoption. I doubt these findings are accurate and here's why. The issue isn't security per-se: it's trust and comfort. I think nearly anyone would tell you that they trust their bank. Most would make the assumption (right or wrong) that if their bank is offering an application, the bank must have done their due diligence, the application must be secure and the bank would surely stand behind and guarantee the security of the application.
The adoption rates for any new trend in banking is always slow. In the past, people were hesitant to use the drive-ups. Then there were ATMs. Now online banking, mobile banking and new banking tools and "gadgets" within social networking sites. There are people that still don't use ATMs. There are even more folks that don't use online banking. For non-users, trust isn't usually the issue. It's a comfort level - the breaking of a habit. If you talk to these "non-users" they'll say things like, "I like going into the branch and talking to the tellers", "I'm horrible with computers", or "I hate machines."
Early adopters are technology folks and will show an interest in the security of these applications. Eventually, it's not security that's the issue. Security will be assumed. Trust becomes the factor. Does the application come from a trusted source? Right now there are literally a massive number of "tools" in the social media space with hundreds more rolling out almost weekly. With the high volume of "noise" out there, the source of the application is very important. Fiserv, a trusted name in the banking industry, rolled out a Facebook banking application that hasn't seen strong adoption. Why? Because 1000 out of 1000 of those folks surveyed have no clue who Fiserv is. Is the app secure? Sure it it, but the source isn't trusted. Once banks and credit unions settle on an application and do a good job of educating their customers on the banking tools available to them, users will welcome them whether in the mobile channel or the social medial channel.
