Security Fatigue Is Costing You Customers: How to Reduce Friction Without Raising Risk
Picture this: You’re shopping for a rain jacket using your smartphone, and you’re ready to buy. First, you must select all the CAPTCHA squares that contain buses. (Is that part of a tire?) Then you can’t remember your password, so you reset it—but not before struggling to come up with one that meets the complex requirements. Then you wait for the one-time passcode (OTP) text. And you wait. It doesn’t come, so you hit resend three times. When you still haven’t received the verification code, you call customer support to complete your order but hang up in frustration after waiting on hold for 10 minutes. Your next stop is Amazon, where checkout is quick and easy.
Account security is essential, but login friction jeopardizes customer experience, leading to security fatigue and impacting revenue growth. Security is the top concern related to digital experience (endorsed by 78% of survey respondents), but ease of use is a close second (76%). Customers don’t want to jump through hoops to access their account. When logging in is too complicated, customers may give up on purchases as well as essential actions—like managing their account, paying a bill or scheduling an appointment. It stops all kinds of customer journeys in their tracks.
What Is Security Fatigue in Customer Experience?
“Security fatigue”—the feeling of weariness and frustration that users experience when faced with numerous, complex security measures—is a term often associated with employees, who are overwhelmed by password change requests, multifactor authentication (MFA) prompts, and cyber alerts (many of which are false positives). But customers may experience security fatigue around account access, leading them to abandon purchases and essential actions—and ultimately, brands.
CX leaders must combat security fatigue by balancing security and convenience. The right customer experience (CX) solutions reduce security fatigue by streamlining authentication, personalizing communication and automating routine security step.
What Causes Security Fatigue? And How Does It Hurt Customers and Brands?
Too many, overly complicated security measures can cause:
Frustration and stress. Customers are forced to make security decisions frequently, like verifying their identity multiple times just to pay a bill, update an account or access services. Password overload is real. On average, an internet user has 168 passwords for personal accounts—a 70% increase in just the past three years. More than half (57%) of U.S. consumers report feeling , and 45% feel anxious about password security.
