3.1 Trust in financial service providers
According to the 2013 Edelman’s Trust Barometer, financial services remain the least trusted industry globally.37 In 2012, Russia was rated last in the survey of 25 countries in terms of the level of trust in financial services, with only 34 percent of respondents trusting them. In 2013, this figure was higher — 40 percent, which is still lower than the global average of 47 percent.
In this research, the levels of trust are disaggregated by types of financial service providers, to get a better understanding to what extent it affects people’s decision to use financial services. Further in the chapter, the importance of the trust factor for specific financial services and delivery channels is discussed.
Trust levels also directly correlate with usage levels (which, in turn, directly correlate with income levels, as discussed in Chapter 2): among those who trust financial institutions the most are those who are more active users of financial services, ages 35–44, and with middle and higher income levels.
Figure 14. Level of trust in financial service providers
Note: Distribution of answers to the question “To what extent do you trust the following financial institutions?” (percentage of total respondents, n = 2800).
Analysis of the data by regions revealed an especially high share of those who “fully distrust” MFOs in the North-Caucasian FD (40 percent versus 31 percent on average).
Detailed breakdowns of the survey results on the trust in financial service providers are presented in Annex 3.