eBillme and First Data conducted the survey where they tried to reveal some important perceptions of the consumers. Answering the question about whom they would consider at fault if they were to experience identity theft as a result of online shopping, the majority of the respondents (60%) said that it would be the merchants. But on the other part the majority of those surveyed (42%) said that they would ask the payment provider for assistance upon experiencing identity theft.

Two conclusions are clear. Firstly, merchants should carefully choose the payment providers for their shopping sites to avoid negative influence on them. Secondly, consumers need to be provided with more information about where to turn to for assistance in any possible case. Following those two advices guarantees safety of the transactions and long term business success for merchants.