In whom do we trust?

One of the reoccurring conversations in banking is trust.

I’ve blogged about it many times, and it’s a point that arises in almost every conversation about how banks prosper.

There are two sorts of trust here however.

Trust in banks to do the right thing, and trust in banks to manage our money with accuracy.

The former is definitely not the trust that exists in banks, with almost two-thirds of people in Britain saying that they no longer trust banks to do the right thing.

If trust in banks to do the right thing has gone, could trust in banks to manage money accurately also disappear?

This is a core question as it’s the one thing bankers believe whole-heartedly: people trust us to process their payments.

This struck me in a conversation about remote banking.

When you no longer see the bank, talk to the bank, deal with the bank … do you still trust it?

The answer from a bank representative is ‘yes’. 

The explanation is that if you are buying something online, is it the online retailer you trust with your payment or the card processer or the bank that issues the card with which you are paying?

Banks believe it is the card processer and bank that you trust at this point, not the retailer.

It’s an intriguing discussion as this is the dynamic that is changing, as we see Amazon and Apple and others moving into the payments market.

Amazon wraps up a payment in a one-click process and Apple do the same in iTunes.

As I blogged recently, ‘pay by Facebook’ may be a reality soon.

So, in whom do you trust with your payment?