1 in 2 Singaporeans think local retailers have shoddy security systems: survey

Shoppers feel vulnerable to fraud.

Local retailers aren’t doing enough to protect their customers’ financial information, a global fraud study revealed today.

According to the survey conducted by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group, Singapore is the only country in Asia Pacific where less than half (48 percent) of consumers indicate they have confidence in the security systems online shops use to protect their data.

Among other findings, only 49 percent of Singaporean consumers feel stores where they shop use security systems that adequately protect their financial data against hackers and data breaches.

“ Only 49 percent of consumers in Singapore believe the security where they shop (retail stores) is adequate to protect their information. 80 percent of Singaporeans think large multinational financial institutions (26 percent) and government agencies and law enforcement (54 percent) do a better job of protecting their data than community banks or credit unions, or small retailers and stores,” the study revealed.

Here’s more from the report:

Approximately 3 in 4 consumers in Singapore (71 percent) prefer that their banks not post transactions to their cards until they respond to fraud alerts.

More than 4 in 10 Singaporean consumers (46 percent) do not recall receiving any anti-fraud information from their financial institution.

3 in 10 Singaporean consumers (30 percent) think theft by a computer hacker is the greatest fraud risk.

In many countries, prepaid card usage and the rate of fraud on such cards correlates. China and India have the highest rates of prepaid card fraud in Asia Pacific at 17 percent and 18 percent, respectively, compared to Singapore’s rate of 10 percent.