Consumer trust rates are going from lackluster to even more so. The Thales 2025 Consumer Digital Trust Index reveals that digital trust rates have dropped across the board for all sectors, or stayed stagnant at best, with the exception of Government. Even the industry receiving the highest amount of consumer confidence (Banking) still has a rate lower than 50%!
As new technologies like AI wreak havoc on the industry and bots take over customer service roles, the lack of familiarity is enough to make any online purchaser feel unsafe.
The good news is that technology works both ways. Though faced with the same concerning issues, over six in ten reported that the use of “innovative and advanced” technologies would be enough to re-instill some confidence that companies today could meet sophisticated challenges head-on. In other words, they would have the means at their disposal to keep consumer data safe.
Declining Digital Trust
When asked which sectors consumers trusted the most, they answered:
- Banking (44%)
- Government (41%)
- Healthcare (40%)
- Insurance (24%)
- Education (17%)
Sectors like Hospitality, Retail, and Transportation rank below 7%. While this does show that some organizations manage to inspire more confidence than others, it also reveals that even the most trusted fail to gain even 50% of the vote.
That could be attributed to the fact that consumers have been burned too many times before. According to the report, nearly one in five (19%) have had their personal data stolen and just over 10% have had financial data lost. Consequently, perhaps, many are unwilling to part with too much of their information. When asked why they left a particular brand, 31% responded that they “demanded too much personal information.” In a competitive online market, data might be king, but putting people off by asking too much of it can backfire in indirect ways. Along similar lines, 25% responded that they left a business over “concerns about how my personal information is used.”
Trust must be earned. And when a company wants to maintain a trustworthy image, it is essential to prove to consumers that every possible measure is being taken to secure the data they are being trusted with. In many ways, this can be communicated by employing the best emerging technologies at the front door of any consumer interaction, the login.
The Power of Passwordless, Biometrics, and More to Improve Trust
When asked what would raise their level of digital trust in an online brand, 64% of consumers responded that the awareness that that brand was leveraging advanced and innovative technologies – like passkeys, biometrics, and generative AI – would do it. This could be because the hyper-sophistication of the current threat landscape decreases confidence in traditional authentication mechanisms like passwords to properly “do the job.” Fire is needed to fight fire.
And what might that firepower be? The top three technologies users identified as instrumental to raising their level of digital trust were:
- 2 Factor Authentication (MFA) (64%)
- Biometrics (51%)
- Passkeys (48%)
Additionally, 37% would increase trust in brands that implemented Digital Sovereignty measures (processing data in the jurisdiction in which it is owned), and roughly a third (32-33%) said that the same could be said of sectors leveraging AI and generative AI.
While these alternatives may be seen to add more friction, the added security is becoming more necessary in consumers’ eyes. The combination of passwordless, multifactor, and risk-based authentication (RBA) can offer a solution, balancing the need for deep, sophisticated validation requirements with the seamless flow most consumers are looking for. RBA vets for anomalies like strange locations, devices, or behaviors and only introduces an additional layer of security (like biometrics or a passkey) when such are flagged. This leaves most of your users with a fast-paced login process most of the time.
Digital Identities No Longer an Option with Privacy Compliance
Emerging and updated regulations like DORA, PSD3, and PCI DSS 4.0 are bolstering security requirements and driving digital identity adoption, something sure to look good in the eyes of any wary user.
Even if organizations wanted to remain technologically stagnant, these frameworks are making incorporating digital identities an increasingly salient option, demanding that companies implement robust IAM solutions. A simple password-based mechanism arguably does not fit that definition, especially given the complex nature of the current threat landscape.
Compliance with these regulations does more than tick a box; it contributes to the (correct) perception of trust among consumers. If banking is any evidence, sectors with more (or stricter) security standards are naturally seen as more trustworthy when it comes to personal information. A company might say they believe in data security, but when compliance is at stake and licenses are on the line, consumers feel that the company, too, has skin in the game – and a higher incentive to protect their data the right way.
Digital Trust: The New “Ticket to Ride”
Digital trustworthiness is no longer a hidden virtue seen only by auditors and system administrators. More and more, this issue is being dragged out into the light, and the public has an eye on where it will go next, and who will comply. The internet is nothing if not an aggressively competitive marketplace in which multiple options exist to fill any one need.
Digital trust is the competitive edge that today’s organizations need to stay in the game and is increasingly becoming a “ticket to ride.” It needs to be done securely and with as little friction as possible. Because as time goes on, fewer consumers are going to have patience with breaches, mishaps, and digital frustrations. For the 87% of Consumer Digital Trust Index respondents who admit to having “lost their patience online,” they’ve already had enough.
Ammar is a digital transformation leader specializing in Product Marketing with a focus on B2C Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) within the Identity and Access Management (IAM) sector at Thales. He is a recognized thought leader in digital banking and payments, sharing insights at various international conferences and authoring articles for industry publications., When not implementing strong customer authentication and fraud prevention strategies, Ammar enjoys a nice game of cricket!
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.