About 65.5% of Filipinos surveyed for a study by Appdome, a company that provides cyber defense automation platform, consider hacking of apps as the No. 1 threat in using mobile devices. The figure is higher than the global average of 50.1%.

In light of recent reports on phishing affecting e-wallets and financial institutions, there seems to be a heightened awareness of data security and security in general when it comes to digital transactions. Along with hacking, Filipinos are also wary of mobile fraud and mobile malware.

The survey “Appdome Philippines Consumer Expectation of Mobile App Security” also revealed that 52.8% of Filipinos expect the best security in their mobile apps, which is 11.6% higher than their global peers. 

Consumers in PH want strong mobile security — Appdome
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“The most interesting thing in this survey is that Filipinos are sophisticated when it comes to security,” said Jan Sysmans, Mobile App Security Evangelist at Appdome. “The primary concerns Filipinos have is malware as well as fraud.”

A majority of Filipinos (52.8%) expect the best security, once again beating their global peers by 11.6%. And 84% of Filipino consumers demand mobile app protections that go beyond the login screen and data protection, and include anti-fraud and anti-malware protection built into the mobile app.

Appdome commissioned Ask Your Target Market to conduct the survey of 25,000 consumers globally.

Mobile protections by brands

The survey found that 68.1% of Filipinos believe that protecting consumers against security, fraud and malware is as important as new features in the app, eclipsing the global average of 62%.

A majority of Filipinos (52.8%) expect the best security, once again beating their global peers by 11.6%. And 84% of Filipino consumers demand mobile app protections that go beyond the login screen and data protection, and include anti-fraud and anti-malware protection built into the mobile app.

The report also revealed that e-wallet 59.9% of respondents use e-wallet and/or apps that offer e-wallet capabilities, which is 106% higher than the global baseline. 

The top 3 mobile apps used by Filipino’s also included social media apps and mobile games along with e-wallets. These mobile apps were closely followed by retail/shopping, mobile banking and food delivery apps. In summary, Filipinos are more inclined to choose the apps that make transactions and interactions easier.