Survey Finds Consumers Switching Banks Due to ID Theft

A new report by Financial Insights analyzes the results of a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers over the age of 18 that measured the impact of identity theft on consumer fears and on their banking and online behaviors. The report provides insights into the demographic and geographic characteristics of identity theft victims and consumers in general who are most worried about identity theft.

"Close to 60 percent of U.S. consumers sampled in January 2005 expressed concern about identity theft, and close to 6 percent admitted to switching banks to reduce their risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. Identity theft incidents have been taking their toll on banks and their customer relationships. Recent high-profile incidents of customer data theft at Bank of America, ChoicePoint, and LexisNexis may drive bank customers to worry further about the possibility of experiencing identity theft. However, our survey results show that not all consumers worry equally about identity theft and the crime itself does not impact all consumers across the U.S. at the same rate," stated Sophie Louvel, research analyst at Financial Insights and author of the report.

The report also provides recommendations to financial institutions on how they can counter the loss of customer trust and erosion resulting from identity theft by instituting more proactive identity theft victim support and by providing identity theft prevention and detection tools to consumers.