SINGAPORE - 46 per cent of Internet users believe traditional over-the-counter banking is safer than banking online, according to a survey carried out by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab and B2B International.
Despite these fears, most people still make some payments online but many fail to take even basic security measures, putting their money and banks' reputations at risk.
The survey revealed that one of the easiest ways for criminals to access online bank accounts is to pose as the account owner.
This can be done by getting information about the account, setting up a phishing page where users unwittingly hand over their usernames and passwords, or by intercepting username and password data with a banking Trojan when users log on to their bank's legitimate pages.
Traditional computers and mobile devices are both vulnerable to these attacks.
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49 per cent feel vulnerable when making financial transactions online while 54 per cent reported they believe making payments offline is more reliable than online. 46 per cent agreed that offline banking is the safer than online banking.
However the majority of Internet users make online payments, with 79 per cent of those surveyed using their desktops or laptops for online payments, 52 per cent using their tablets, 45 per cent using their smartphones.
At the same time, according to the survey, one in five users do nothing to protect their financial data online.
Ross Hogan, Global Head of the Fraud Prevention Division at Kaspersky Lab said: "If customers choose traditional over-the-counter banking, from fear of falling victim to internet fraud, it will hamper the adoption of high-margin online and mobile payment systems."
He added: "This will force banks to invest more of their resources in low margin branches instead. Meanwhile, among those who have adopted online and mobile payments, there is a persistent security concern as they may be putting their money - and the bank's reputation - at unnecessary risk."