Sharing economy held back by identity trust fears

According to a new report from HooYu, the global identity confirmation service, despite rapid growth from millions of users sharing, swapping and renting, over two thirds (68%) of UK people have not yet conducted an online peer-to-peer transaction such as buying something from an online marketplace or renting a holiday property. Participation is markedly higher in the US where nearly seven out of ten people (69%) have already conducted such peer-to-peer online transactions. The difference is particularly stark in the proportion of consumers who have bought or sold an item via an online marketplace such as Gumtree or Craigslist, with 39% having done so in the US compared to just 11% in the UK.

The report examines participation rates and consumer attitudes to trusting strangers in peer-to-peer and sharing economy transactions both in the UK and the US.

A key finding of the study is that in both the UK and the US, consumers are unlikely to conduct peer-to-peer online transactions without first obtaining assurance about the other person’s identity. Six out of 10 respondents (61%) will not or are uncertain to trust without checking identity compared to 39% that are either happy to trust or would do so with reservations before they had assurance about the other person’s identity.

8 in 10 (79%) respondents stated they would be much more likely to trust a stranger online if they were sent an in-depth ID confirmation report about the person they were dealing with.