If you’ve noticed that a lot of financial institutions are advertising their “safety and security†lately, this is not a coincidence. It is not just a side effect of banks merging and going out of business either. The current economic situation is making people think more about the real risk of identity theft. People are stealing information and using it to buy products and services to the tune of millions of dollars, and they’re taking insurance information and using it to get complementary medical treatment – on the insured person’s dime.
According to Mintel, an international market research organization, nearly 50% of adults have become more worried about identity theft since the economic downturn. Many fear that banks have enough to worry about just to stay in business, so they are taking a bit of a laxe approach on account security. While bank representatives surely say this is not true, it may be in some circumstances.
As far as the recession leading to more small-time thieves, that is actually less of a worry. Most high level identity thieves have been bilking people for cash on the large scale. It is not often someone who got laid off and needs a couple hundred to pay the bills.
A full 90% of the people surveyed indicated that security was very important or somewhat important during their process of picking which bank to use. Plus, 42% said identity theft protection was one of their top criteria in getting a debit or credit card for their business. So if a bank could guarantee that their customers would not be at risk for either data breaches, hacking or other unintentional release of their account information, it would surely get thousands of new customers. Too bad no bank can offer you that. In fact, no bank can come anywhere close to giving you that kind of deal.
Luckily, you don’t have to rely on banks for identity theft protection – although some certainly do a more adequate job of it than others. Since there are so many private identity theft insurance products on the market, it is fairly easy to protect yourself. It’s one thing to think you are protected and another to really know a plan is in place to keep your accounts and your good name safe. Some, like LifeLock, offer identity theft protection guarantees rather than insurance.
There is pretty much an identity theft protection plan available for all needs, whether you need bare minimum protection for yourself or you want a comprehensive plan that can cover your entire immediate family. If you’re one of those adults that’s worried about your information’s safety more than you used to be, take comfort in the fact that you can buy peace of mind, and at competitive prices to boot.