THE IMPACT OF IDENTITY THEFT ON INTERNET BANKING

December 14, 2005 -- 11:00am EST (1 hour)
Tim Sloane, Director, Debit Advisory Service

This teleconference is critical for any financial institution that is relying upon the Internet channel to reduce costs or rollout new strategic initiatives.  The impact of identity theft is examined through an analysis of the current state of consumer perceptions regarding the risk associated with online banking.  As attacks become increasingly sophisticated and consumers become less confident in the reliability of the infrastructure, the growth of new adopters for this channel is hampered.

Participants will be provided an in-depth analysis of ID Theft statistics collected from software suppliers, industry groups, research firms and government agencies.  These statistics offer the participant a new perspective on ID Theft that includes the amount of personal information lost from businesses today, the number of attacks made on the consumer's home computer, the increased sophistication of Internet attacks, and the costs associated with these attacks for businesses, financial institutions and consumers. 

This presentation will focus on those statistics that best demonstrate why consumers are so personally worried about ID Theft even though they have not been a victim of financial fraud.  This perception shift has the potential for significantly impacting online payments and financial service offerings.  Participants will also benefit from a discussion of the consumer's perspective using data collected in a nationally representative survey of more than 3, 000+ households with at-home Internet access.  Financial institutions that fail to appreciate the impact these attacks have had on high transaction volume Internet customers will be unable to properly respond to the loss of trust these attacks have engendered.  

Tim Sloane, Director for Mercator Advisory Group?s Debit Advisory Service, will also discuss the recent recommendations of the FDIC using the reality check reflected in the statistics shared during this teleconference.  Based on the consumer feedback analyzed, Mercator will suggest additional actions that leading financial institutions should take to re-instill consumer trust in the Internet channel.