Study of Hong Kong Millennials Highlights Need for Financial Institutions and Other Companies to Adopt New Approach to Identity Verification

13/10/2016

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s Millennials are increasingly cautious about sharing information with financial institutions, despite the end benefits in the fight against fraud and other financial crime, according to a major new study focused on the digital behaviors of Millennials both in Asia and globally.

The LexisNexis Risk Solutions study found just 20 percent of Hong Kong Millennials, the generation born between 1982 and 2004, fully trust financial institutions with handling their personal information. This drops considerably with regard to communications companies, payment providers and retailers. Females are more reluctant to provide financial information, identification numbers and information about their possessions than males. Comfort levels are highest for providing more general information, such as date of birth or a one-time passcode, to verify identity. As information becomes more personal and identifiable, comfort declines significantly. Hong Kong Millennials were the most cautious of all survey participants when it came to sharing information with anybody.

“The study findings show a significant disconnect between the concerns of Millennials, who are typically more vocal about what they want compared to other consumers, and the information businesses need to ensure financial transparency. Consumers want to know that actions are being taken to avoid fraud, which banks and other companies can only provide if they have access to enough, and the right kind, of data to detect financial crime and bad actors within the system,” said Thomas C. Brown, senior vice president, Global Market Development and U.S. Commercial Market, LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Hong Kong Millennials use an average of 3.8 different types of devices, making them ‘digital power users’. ‘Power users’ own more digital devices and use these to conduct a higher volume of transactions, including banking and shopping. ‘Power users’ are concentrated in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico and the U.S.

Despite being digitally savvy, 70 percent of Hong Kong Millennials are concerned about their online privacy, while 66 percent are concerned about companies collecting too much of their private information. Almost 70 percent fear having their identity stolen through their online, mobile and app-based activities. The same number are concerned about data breaches.

Chris Foye, market planning manager, LexisNexis Risk Solutions said: “The demand for remote banking is clear with over 80 percent of respondents relying on this channel. However, there is a need for financial institutions to recognize the differences in behavior between Millennials and other digital users and address these concerns with tailored digital and on-premise service offerings and market education. Problematically, less than half of the Hong Kong survey respondents felt it was necessary for companies to even ask for their personal information to verify their identity and prevent fraud. Companies need to ensure they are asking for data which is actually needed to prevent fraud while at the same time reducing friction and improving the customer experience.”

The study showed that Hong Kong users were the most active in remote banking activities and the least active in mobile app purchases. Meanwhile, in other markets in which there are high numbers of users who own a device capable of remote banking transactions, many users avoid digital transactions due to privacy and security concerns.

Hong Kong Millennials were found to have the highest number of credit card and mobile wallet users when compared to Millennials in other markets and the lowest use of debit cards.

About the Study 
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions conducted a survey of 2,804 Millennials during April - May 2016 across Hong Kong, Malaysia, the US, UK , Germany, Mexico and Brazil. The purpose of the study was to uncover how much friction Millennial customers will tolerate in doing business with banks, retailers, telecommunications companies, and payment providers. The findings offer valuable insight into Millennial attitudes on information sharing and authentication preferences.

About LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis^® Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data, sophisticated analytics platforms and technology solutions to provide insights that help businesses across multiple industries and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, please visit LexisNexis Risk Solutions and RELX.