Each year six million people in the UK cut ties with organisations because of concerns about security in customer service. FS providers present the highest risk in the eyes of consumers with 46 per cent suspecting high level breaches of security at financial institutions.

A survey of 2,000 UK consumers, commissioned by business communications company Avaya and contact centre specialist, Sabio, also finds that: when a payment card is lost or stolen, 54 per cent say they stop using their accounts; A fifth have switched financial services provider in this situation. And consumers place the blame squarely with the provider with 46 per cent of the UK population citing the contact centre as the starting point for fraud.

Human nature is considered the weakest security link – five per cent think that sharing card details with a human agent is safe. In contrast, 81 per cent would feel more comfortable using technology to enter a password on a keypad to confirm their identity when calling a contact centre. Yet the processes put in place by some organisations to do as much as possible to prevent fraud also cause frustration among consumers. Fifty five per cent vent their irritation at companies that force them to repeat security information on a call, and 51 per cent say they are put off using a provider if there are too many passwords and security details needed.

Three in four people are in favour of giving an organisation their card details via technology solutions rather than to a call centre agent; 51 per cent are happy to use the relatively uncommon technology of voice biometrics for banking; 73 per cent feel a voice biometric system which recognises your voice and confirms your identity would be reassuring; 48 per cent say that a tried and tested voice biometric system is most likely to make them feel more at ease about their data security than voice interactions; 60 per cent think organisations should best avoid fraud in call centres by using technology to hide the card payment details from the call centre agent

“Consumers’ contradictory attitudes leave businesses stuck between a rock and a hard place. By focussing on the three ‘S’ – service, speed and security – brands can improve customer lifetime value, strengthen security and increase brand loyalty. Consumer trust in technology is key. It should be used to reassure customers that their security concerns are being addressed while simultaneously improving the customer experience, speeding up the time and driving down the cost of each and every customer service interaction,” says Simon Culmer, managing director, UK, Avaya.

“The research suggests that consumers are becoming increasingly security savvy. Businesses need to build back confidence in traditional transactions methods. Customer service technology can help them achieve this, whether creating confidence in the secure nature of their own contact centre organisations or encouraging the merchants that depend on their transaction services to do the same,” comments Kenneth Hitchen, founding director, Sabio

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