New research released by FIS, a leading financial services technology firm, has found financial fraud growing substantially since last year, with the share of victims doubling to 37% of respondents, and all age segments falling victim to fraudsters. FIS’ fifth annual PACE report highlights that Indians have embraced digital transactions, but they are yet to learn the do’s and don’ts of sharing personal information, with social engineering and phishing emails are rampant.
There is a dramatic correlation in India between adoption of mobile apps and digital payments and increasing rate of financial fraud. Close to 96% of Indians who fell victim to financial fraud during the last year had switched to mobile apps and digital payments from cash as mode of payment. Some of the other interesting findings are:
Mobile apps drive innovation
Banks can no longer treat branches as their only channel to provide personalised service and engage customers. Mobile apps now serve as the digital “face” for many banks, and a record 41% of bank interactions are now performed via mobile device. Mobile has become the default banking channel across all age groups. Looking ahead, Indian consumers want banks to invest in password-free and biometric-based banking, voice banking and wallets.
Mobile payments go mainstream
While cash and cards are still the preferred way to pay, mobile payments are rapidly gaining traction, especially among Gen Y (18-26 age group) who are a prime audience for banking providers. In fact, India is far ahead of the US, the UK and Germany in mobile payment adoption. Mobile wallets that offer cash back and other incentives, are also spurring adoption. UPI 2.0 is also a boon for merchants, as it supports the use of an overdraft account and the verification of invoices prior to payments, moving mobile payments squarely into the small and medium enterprise segment.
Public sector banks leap ahead in customer satisfaction
Customers of top 50 global banks and private sector banks are less satisfied than they were in 2018. However, public sector banks—traditionally seen as slow to react —saw their proportion of “extremely satisfied” customers climb considerably, rocketing from the worst-performing category to the best.