Over a third of Phl users lack proper cyber hygiene — survey

MANILA, Philippines — More than a third or 39 percent of consumers in the Philippines do not take proper measures to secure their financial data, using the same passwords for some to all of the services and apps that contain their personal payment data,  a new VMware Banking Consumer 2020 Study showed.

As more consumers in the Philippines adopt cashless and e-payment options, poor cyber hygiene practices could put consumers, banks and financial institutions (FSIs) at great risk of financial fraud and losses, it said.

The majority (88 percent) of consumers surveyed store their bank account details on at least one to six applications, yet only a handful (28 percent) are practicing good cybersecurity practices by using different passwords for all their accounts. That said, the Philippines still emerges as the one of safest in the region, topping the regional average of 24 percent and coming in right behind Thailand (30 percent).

“Cashless and e-payment options have much growth potential in the Philippines, where much of the country remains unbanked. The recent launch of the National Retail Payment System by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to standardize electronic payments with the aim of pushing cashless transactions to 20 percent of total transacted volume means the pace of adoption will accelerate in the coming months,” said Victor Silvino, country manager, VMware Philippines.

“In this new digital reality, we expect that risks of data breaches and financial fraud will be amplified. Existing architecture is insufficient to guard against this — banks and FSIs need a new network infrastructure to protect apps, data and users across multiple cloud environments,” he added.       

The study also found that consumers in the Philippines trust the level of security afforded by new payment methods more than their regional counterparts, embracing the use of connected devices, connected things, e-payment wallets and apps. Banks and FSIs thus need to do more to secure these new payment methods through innovation and deploying robust infrastructure. In contrast, consumers in Singapore and Malaysia place lesser trust in these new methods of payment and are more comfortable with the traditional transaction methods such as cash and ATMs.