Digital financial services: What are Singapore’s top concerns?

Nearly nine in ten consumers in Singapore have some concerns about using digital financial services – such as digital-only banks, e-wallets and cryptocurrencies (87%).

Research by YouGov shows the top three concerns all revolve around the security of digital finance. More than half of consumers (54%) agree that there is too much risk from hackers, while 49% worry about their identity being stolen, and 45% feel that not enough fraud protection measures are in place.

Additionally, more than two in five (44%) are concerned about not being able to easily speak to a person if they run into problems while using digital services, and not being able to access their money without an internet connection. Meanwhile, over a third (35%) are not assured with the current level of government regulation. Just 8% say they do not have any concerns with digital financial services today.

How do concerns about digital finance vary across different generations in Singapore?

Older consumers are more concerned about the risk of being hacked when using digital financial services. More than three in five (63%) Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 1964) and over half (54%) of Gen X (born 1965 – 1980) worry about this, compared to under half of Millennials (born 1981 – 1996) and Gen Z (born 1997 – 2009) consumers.

Concerns about identity theft when using digital financial services also rise with age. Over half of Baby Boomers and Gen X worry about this, compared to about two in five Millennials and Gen Z consumers.

However, while just under half of Gen Z and Baby Boomers feel there is not enough fraud protection when using digital financial services, only around two in five Millennials and Gen X consumers are concerned about this.

Older consumers are also more concerned about easy access to customer service personnel and their own money when using digital financial services. Almost three-fifths of Baby Boomers worry about not being able to easily speak to a person if there’s a problem, compared to around two-fifths of Gen X and Millennials, and one-third of Gen Z consumers.

Half of Baby Boomers are also concerned about not being able to access their money without an internet connection when using digital financial services, compared to around two-fifths of Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Surprisingly, Gen Z consumers are most likely to say a lack of clarity on how digital finance services work is a concern when using them (28%), compared to around one-quarter of Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Across generations, around a third of consumers feel there is not enough government regulation of digital finance at present. Baby Boomers are most likely to feel that digital financial services are not as reliable as traditional financial services (33%), while Gen X are the least likely to (26%).

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Methodology: YouGov Custom Research is a full end-to-end service from YouGov experts, from sample framing and questionnaire design to analysis and more, which provides bespoke market intelligence and research insights. Singapore data figures (N = 1,063) have been weighted by age, gender, and ethnicity to be representative of all adults in Singapore (18 years or older), and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. APAC data figures (N = 5,653) include the following markets: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Learn more about YouGov Custom Research.