6 September, 2005 - 11:38am

A survey by polling firm Ipsos Insight that was released today, found online banking in the US has flattened after several years of dramatic growth mainly due to concerns over hackers stealing and using personal information and fears that some companies may be selling client records to third parties.

According to Ipsos, the proliferation of “phishing” and highly publicized hacker tactics have thwarted financial industry efforts to convince customers that online banking is safe:

• 83 percent of survey respondents who conduct their personal banking online reported concerns over protecting their personal information from theft;
• 73 percent of people said personal information theft is a deterrent for them to use online banking;
• survey respondents were equally concerned about banks selling their personal information to a third party, with 72 percent of respondents citing the issue as extremely or very important.

One of our developers wrote in detail on his personal blog earlier this year about how the Sxip Network can help solve the phishing problem. We're also working on a Privacy Considerations document that details how the Sxip Network addresses the confidentiality and anonymity concerns of Internet users. Stay tuned, it will be available soon.