05-28-2006, 11:09 AM
A new study argues that online bill payers have a lower rate of identity theft. According to the study, users of online bill payment portals have the lowest risk of ID Theft. The study was sponsored by the large online bill payment service Checkfree which operates an online bill payment portal 
full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/AFUA6B18...erce.xhtml
Quote:What's the best way to reduce the risk of ID theft? Though it sounds counter-intuitive, would you believe that using the Internet more often does just that? A new survey by Javelin Research & Strategy indicates that those who pay their bills online have a lower likelihood of having their identities compromised.
Additional recent research by Harris Interactive (Nasdaq: HPOL) Latest News about Harris Interactive shows that 56 percent of American households with Internet access are paying at least one bill each month online, up from 52 percent in June of 2004. Most interestingly, 87 percent of users who do pay bills online do so from a single, consolidated Web site, sponsored by a bank, brokerage or Internet portal. Therein lies the key, according to Javelin.
If you pay your bills often at these "portals," you will dramatically decrease the risk that some nefarious member of an organized crime syndicate will snatch your data, mid-stream, off the Internet. That's important information -- potentially perception changing...
full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/AFUA6B18...erce.xhtml