It is up to businesses rather than banks to instill more confidence in consumers about the safety of online transactions, according to research from Symantec.

A Yougov survey, of 2,500 UK adults, carried out for the security company has revealed that despite three-quarters of the population shopping and banking online, many are looking for additional reassurances from online retailers before spending more.

It found 66 per cent of consumers believe that making transactions online puts them at increased risk of online fraud, and 30 per cent agree that internet security threats prevent them from making more online transactions.

Seven in 10 people said they would feel more comfortable carrying out online transactions if they were given assurance that online retailers were taking steps to secure their data.

However, only around three in 10 said they bothered to check the credentials of a company before making a transaction.

Three in 10 believed it is the responsibility of the business they are dealing with to secure their data, while only nine per cent lay the responsibility with their bank.

Consumers also expect any compensation to come from these online retailers (40 per cent), rather than from their bank or credit card company (18 per cent).

“In the past banks have traditionally been held responsible for compensating fraudulent transactions. However, these results suggest that consumers want the businesses they are dealing with to take responsibility for securing their private details.

"With an increasing number of services becoming available online and the huge potential for further growth in online spending, these results demonstrate that businesses need to be aware of what is holding customers back and take steps to boost consumer confidence.

"This means that anyone who sells online needs to take steps to display their security credentials to reassure their customers,” said Richard Archdeacon, director of Symantec's innovations team.

His remarks were in part backed up by Andrew Goodwill, managing director of online fraud experts, Early Warning. He said: "Consumers are still largely unaware that the retailer suffers the cost of credit card fraud in one form or another, mainly by a process called chargeback.

"However, the scale and pace of e-commerce growth raises significant issues for both sellers and buyers that it is in the industry’s interests to resolve. A survey carried out by Early Warning found that three-quarters of 100 online retailers surveyed were not abiding by the E-commerce rules and regulations."

Goodwill went on to say it was clear that rising concerns about phishing and financial security in general are deterring existing users as well, probably, as those yet to experience online shopping.

To tackle this, Goodwill said Early Warning had created two new sites designed to improve lack of consumer confidence.

"As an online fraud specialist company we have set up a website, It's safe to shop online, designed to give help, advice and to instill confidence into consumers who are sceptical of shopping online because of security fears," he said.

"We have also set up a sister site, Safe shops online is a directory of shops that have gone through our strict validation process, which then can be seen to be safe for a consumer to shop with.

"The validation process looks at the security measures an online merchant uses and also makes sure the merchant is abiding by all the ecommerce rules and regulations."