Survey Findings: Colombians Still Somewhat Wary Of ATM Transactions

Colombians view transactions made through ATMs as more vulnerable to cyberattack than other options like phone banking, credit cards, mobile device payments, and online payments made by computers, according to the results of the Unisys Security Insights survey.

When asked to select the type of transaction they thought most risky, 34% of Colombian respondents said ATM transactions present the most risk of the five options presented in the survey. Payments made online via desktop or laptop computers are viewed as the next most risky, with 30% of respondents identifying this transaction as the most susceptible to cyberattack.

Relatively few respondents view the other three options as the most risky, with 15% selecting credit card transactions as most vulnerable, 13% citing mobile banking (13%), and only 8% viewing mobile payments as most vulnerable.

Carlos Ferrer, Vice President and General Manager of Unisys for LACSA (Central, Southern and Andean Latin America)

The mistrust of ATMs is highest for people over 50 years old, while young adults (18-24 years old) are least likely (25%). According to theIT felonies department of the Colombian Attorney General, there were more than 300,000 cases of debit and credit cards cloned in 2014. In addition, 30% of Colombians surveyed also consider online shopping using desktop or laptop computers as a high security risk, which may reflect some resistance and distrust among elderly people when making this kind of transaction.

“Organizations and government agencies face potential security threats that didn’t exist years ago. Security concerns among the citizens of Colombia indicate that they are worried about how government agencies and private organizations are reacting towards these threats,” states Carlos Ferrer, Vice President and General Manager of Unisys for LACSA (Central, Southern and Andean Latin America). “Those organizations must review and enhance existing security measures across various transaction platforms to gain consumers trust”.