Almost half of Canadians would be willing to share “significant personal information” with their bank or insurance provider in exchange for lower pricing, according to a report from Dublin-based consultancy Accenture PLC.
The 2019 Accenture Global Financial Services Consumer Study polled 47,000 consumers in 28 countries, including 2,000 Canadians. The study found that consumers are willing to exchange data for benefits such as faster loan approvals, discounted gym memberships and personalized offers.
The survey also found, however, that Canadians are juggling price-consciousness with privacy concerns: approximately three quarters of Canadian consumers (72%) said they are cautious about the privacy of their data. After rising costs, consumers said that security breaches were the reason they’d be most likely to leave their bank or insurer.
“Canadian consumers are willing to share their personal data in instances where it makes their lives easier but remain cautious of exactly how their information is being used,” said Robert Vokes, managing director of financial services, Accenture Canada, in a statement. “With this in mind, banks and insurers need to deliver a hyper-relevant and highly convenient experience in order to remain relevant, retain trust and win customer loyalty in a digital economy.”
The survey found that, globally, personalization is “the expected prize for consumers’ data.”
Around the world, the majority of insurance consumers (64%) would be interested in receiving adjusted car insurance premiums for safe driving, and 52% would like to see their life insurance premiums lowered in exchange for data on their healthy habits.
As for banking customers, 81% would share income, location and lifestyle information if it meant a faster loan approval, and 76% would be willing to receive discounts from local retailers or other personalized offers based on their location data.
Accenture found that 42% of Canadian consumers would like their bank to let them know “how much money they have based on spending that month” and 46% “want savings tips based on their spending habits.”
The survey found that Chinese customers were more forthcoming with their personal data, while Europeans were more guarded.
The full report is available here.