An ING survey into consumer attitudes to open banking has exposed one of the glaring weaknesses of such polling: What we say and what we are actually prepared to do when it comes to sharing personal data are two distinct things.
The latest ING International Survey - polling in 13 European countries -- finds an attitude-behaviour gap.
The findings show that sharing personal data and interacting with technology in new ways are not developments that people unanimously support.
The survey found that only 30% of respondents on average across Europe were comfortable for companies to share their data if they gave consent.
This was also roughly the same percentage as the 35% who said they had heard of the capability. However, those who said they were aware of Open Banking weren’t always the same people who said they thought it was useful.
UK polling firm Ipsos has also found strong evidence of a disparity between what people say they want and what they say they are prepared to do. One of the firm's surveys found 75% of people would like to have access to data on how they spend their money, but only 40% said they were comfortable providing the information that could lead to that.
"In the end it may just come down to convenience and trust," states ING in the study. "The benefits of open banking, such as quickly tracking finances and moving assets around from one interface are quite easy to see. Trust, though, is more complicated, relating to attitudes towards both the institutions involved and the security of accessing data. And calculating the value of sharing one’s individual data is complex."