Consumers across four continents have expressed their want for digital financial service offerings from their current institution, rather than from a third party.

Consumers in North America, Asia, Oceania, and Europe are placing increasing value on digital banking services, but expecting their current institution to provide them, rather than having to seek out services from a non-traditional provider or fintech, according to CGI.

A CGI survey which examined market awareness, preferences and purchase trends of consumers in Singapore, Canada, Germany, Australia, Sweden, France, the USA and the UK, showed lack of trust was the biggest obstacle to purchasing across all digital financial services.

Titled ‘Fintech Disruption in Financial Services’, more than 75 per cent of consumer respondents to the survey stated they were hesitant to acquire digital services from a fintech provider, despite enthusiasm for digital alternatives to traditional financial offerings.

CGI vice-president and global lead for retail banking, Kevin Poe, said: “Incumbent banks are well positioned to offer digital financial services based on their trusted customer relationships. Work is now needed to reduce the complexity of these services and aid purchase”.

Poe said new market entrants “must find ways to overcome the hurdles of customer access and trust”, and should consider partnering with an established provider, such as a bank, to meet rising customer expectations.

Half of survey respondents saw value in mobile payments, with 78 per cent citing the importance of digital protection in banking and 37 per cent hoping to improve their personal financial management with a digital tool.

Australian respondents to the survey were most concerned about digital protection (87 per cent in Australia versus 78 per cent globally), personal financial management (66 per cent in Australia versus 61 per cent globally) and mobile payments (54 per cent Australia versus 51 per cent globally).

CGI Australia digital transformation and data insights leader, Steve Lennon, said that Australians were keen adopters of digital solutions, but leaned strongly toward working within the comfort of their own institution and its offerings.

“Australian consumers indicated a strong preference to explore this digital financial future with their existing financial services providers,” he said.

“This creates partnership opportunities for our major banks to deliver the next-generation digital products and services consumers are waiting for.”