What environment do you consider the safest for online banking? Would you make your financial transactions solely in the safety of your own home, or would you be less concerned about security on-the-go or in the office?
A series of ESET surveys focused on online banking habits have shown that even though home networks are the most popular option for users managing their finances, every fourth Russian (26.7%) would not shy away from a mobile connection. In comparison, Americans, Brits and Germans like to keep it more old-school, with four in five opting to use their home network (US 79.23%, UK 81.64%, DE 80.9%, RUS 57.3%).
This preference is reflected in the category of devices most used for online banking. Three-quarters of Germans (74.7%), two-thirds of Brits (67.91%), six out of 10 Americans (63.63%) and more than half of Russians (56.7%) opt for home and personal computers when managing their finances online.
Maybe it's to do with how cybersecurity is approached with these devices – while many people have solutions in place for their desktops and laptops, with smartphones and tablets, the opposite is true.
Anyway, these results also contrast with the usage of workplace devices and networks. Who knows, maybe it is the feeling of being monitored by the boss that discourages users, maybe they don't feel comfortable with workplace security or maybe it's the opposite – it's too complex to even bother with. Whatever the reason, it seems that to be a big concern with Germans, as only 5.8% of them take care of their financial affairs using a corporate network.
"Less than 6% of Germans use a corporate network for online banking."
This distrust seems to be widespread amongst Brits as well – only 6.58% choose an office connection to manage their finances. Russians are a little more trusting (8.6%), and Americans are the most open to such an option – close to every tenth user (9.77%) would have no problem with online banking at their workplace.
Again, this partly translates into the devices used. Every fifth American (19.87%) trusts his or her work device enough to use it for financial operations. Surprisingly, every sixth British user (16.28%) answered similarly, despite the UK aversion to corporate connections.
On the other hand, some nations don’t make such a big deal out of using any device that happens to be available to carry out financial transactions. This is demonstrated by the answers in the ESET survey: more than one quarter of Russians polled (26.7%) and close to a fifth of Germans (18.1%) chose this option.
Full statistics below:
| What device do you use most often for online banking? | UK | US | DE | RUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I use my own personal computer/laptop | 67.91% | 63.63% | 74.70% | 56.70% |
| I use my work computer/laptop | 16.28% | 19.87% | 7.80% | 9.10% |
| I use any device that's available | 15.81% | 16.50% | 18.10% | 34.20% |
| What type of Internet connection do you use most often for online banking? | UK | US | DE | RUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home network | 81.64% | 79.23% | 80.90% | 57.30% |
| Corporate network | 6.58% | 9.77% | 5.80% | 8.60% |
| Public Wi-Fi | 3.72% | 4.68% | 7.40% | 7.30% |
| Data package/Mobile broadband | 8.06% | 6.32% | 5.90% | 26.70% |
| UK | US | DE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Device by connection | Home | Corporate | Home | Corporate | Home | Corporate |
| Personal computer/laptop | 88,09% | 1,99% | 88,26% | 2,81% | 90,58% | 1,75% |
| Work computer/laptop | 58,56% | 28,18% | 57,80% | 32,57% | 23.88% | 43.28% |
| Any device available | 76,11% | 4,44% | 64,61% | 9,55% | 63.54% | 10.84 % |
Notes:
In the specific breakdown on how online banking is being used and about habits, we address only percentages from the group of online banking users.
The surveys were conducted during Q3 of 2015 on a demographically representative sample of at least 1,000 Internet users in each country. Surveys were conducted in the UK, US and Germany by Google Surveys, and in Russia by Merku.
