Dive Brief:
- Consumers expect a faster response from their bank after a data breach than other companies, according to a survey from credit reporting company Experian.
- 66% of people surveyed said they would stop doing business with a company that had a slow or ineffective response to a data breach and would switch to a competitor. And 45% said they would tell their family and friends to stop doing business with the company.
- 90% of the survey's respondents said they would be more forgiving of a company that had a proactive post-breach communication plan in place before an event that puts data at risk. The majority — 57% — said they'd be only somewhat forgiving. Seniors disproportionately make up the segment that said they’d be much more willing to forgive a breach given proper communication, the survey indicated.
Dive Insight:
The survey suggests financial services companies have more to lose — both in reputation and customer base — than do other businesses. 83% of respondents said they expected to be notified within 24 hours if the breached company is a bank, according to the survey of 1,004 U.S. adults, published last week for Experian by KRC Research. That compares with 75% for a government agency, 73% for a health care organization and 61% for a retailer.
More than 70% of respondents said they'd prefer to hear quickly and directly from the affected company rather than hear about a breach on the news. Nearly the same percentage said they’d accept free identity theft protection and credit monitoring services from a company in the wake of a breach.
It should be noted that Experian's competitor, Equifax, suffered a breach in 2017, in which the personal data of more than 140 million consumers was exposed. Equifax knew of the breach more than a month before customers were informed.
