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UK banks still high on the fraud hit parade
Consumer confidence dented by high-profile breaches

By Julian Goldsmith

Published: Thursday 21 June 2007

UK consumer confidence in high street banks is low with more than two-thirds of consumers saying they don't trust their bank.

The results of the survey conducted by Unisys, which found 71 per cent of consumers didn't trust their banks to keep good corporate governance, are reinforced by figures from RSA's monthly fraud report that show UK banking retains second place globally, in terms of fraud volumes.

The Unisys survey found that consumer distrust was driven by poor privacy, weak IT and lack of investment in the local community. Online banks were more likely to receive the lowest levels of trust from customers.

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Elton Birden, Unisys vice president of UK financial services, said in a statement: "The good news is that the UK public is no longer apathetic about security as we had found in 2005. The bad news is they're now angry and they want much more from banks to keep their trust. Financial institutions have not listened to customer concerns."

Consumers' concerns appear to be justified by statistics from RSA showing UK banking retains its place as the second biggest target for phishing attacks for May with a nine per cent global share, although the US is the clear leader with 71 per cent.

The survey for May showed, while the number of phishing attacks is on the increase, the number of institutions being targeted has decreased, indicating fraudsters are concentrating their efforts on particular banking brands.

Cheat Sheets

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Whether or not UK banks deserve a reputation for being untrustworthy, CapGemini retail banking expert Paul Willis believes that they need to put some effort into customer relations.

He said: "Customers are resetting their expectations on the service they get from banks. They need to be more transparent in the way they deal with their customers. They need to spend time demonstrating to customers how they are meeting these expectations."