1 in 3 Indians saves ATM PIN, bank passwords on phone, email: Survey

Are you one of those who save their bank details and ATM passwords on your email or phone’s contact list lest you forget them? If yes, then it’s time you change your habit and do a bit of memorising if you want your money to be safe.

A new survey by community platform LocalCircles, released on Monday, has found that 11 per cent Indians store their personal financial details on their phone’s contact list even though it poses a high risk of data breach with many apps asking to access the contact list during installation.

According to The Print, the survey also found that one in three Indians save confidential financial information including details of bank account, credit or debit card, ATM PIN and Aadhaar Pan on their cell phones, computers and e-mails.

The survey also found that every third person shares their password with one or more members of their family.

The survey was based on the response of over 24,000 individuals based in 393 districts across the country – 63 per cent of them were men and 37 per cent were women. Around 45 per cent of the respondents were from Tier 1 cities, while 31 per cent were from Tier 2 towns and 24 per cent from Tier 3 towns and rural locations.

The survey said that 33 per cent of the respondents save their credentials digitally – on phone, email or computer.

Around 7 per cent of respondents said they save personal financial details like bank account, debit/credit card CVV and ATM passwords on their phones, while 15 per cent said they store the same information on their email or computer. Eleven per cent said they save these details “in the phone, email or computer”.

While 21 per cent of the respondents said they have memorised the bank and personal details, 39 per cent said they have jotted them down on paper. The rest 7 per cent didn’t say anything.

Only 8,260 of the 24,000 replied to the question.

When asked about storing personal details in their phone’s contact list, 5 per cent of 7,956 individuals who answered, said they save “many of them (details)” while 6 per cent said they save “few of them”.

Eighty eight per cent said they don’t save their credentials on their contact list while 1 per cent didn’t answer the question.

Here, the authors of the survey said it was necessary for the Reserve Bank of India to take steps to sensitise account holders on their digital security as credentials stored in the above platforms are open to theft.

During the survey, of the 8,158 respondents, 29 per cent said one or more members of their “close family” have access to their debit card(s) PIN. Four per cent said they have shared the credentials with “1 or more domestic or office staff”, while 2 per cent said they have shared it with “1 or more friends”. A whopping 65 per cent said only they have access to their card and PIN details.