In a recent blog at Articulate Communications I wrote about the number of surveys that public relations firms send out, and how useless many of them are. I just reviewed my Inbox to see what the recent evidence is…the results are below and include six surveys I have received so far today. They include such stunning news as John Hancock on mindfulness and  a bit on risk analysis that survey 499 residents of Tianjin, China on how they view self-driving cars.  Really, what  could I have done without these survey press releases?

I publish occasionally at the Articulate Communications blog  on issues of financial technology, banking and associated public relations and marketing topics. In the past I have written about design thinking, how to avoid bank PR-speak and whether banking and innovation belong in the same sentence.

Here are some recent surveys I have received and ignored, at least until now.

June 14 from the Society for Risk Analysis: Survey Says: Self Driving Cars Should Reduce Traffic Fatalities by At Least 75 Percent to Stay on the Roads…The survey was distributed to a convenience sample of residents in Tianjin, China. Of the 499 respondents…The broadly acceptable risk criterion for SDVs is set as two orders of magnitude lower than current global traffic risk…

June 14 — Not quite sure what this John Hancock release has to do with anything, but here it is:
According to the John Hancock Mindfulness Survey, Americans are missing out on the benefits of mindfulness, as only 12 percent of respondents practice meditation or mindfulness when they are stressed. Of those who do, nearly 70 percent cite meditation and mindfulness as the most effective activity for managing their stress, ranked above listening to music, sleeping or exercising.

June 14 Kount’s 6th Annual Mobile Fraud & Payments Survey Finds Complacency and Regression Among Merchants’ Mobile Fraud Mitigation Strategies…about 35 percent of merchants still do not track mobile fraud… Only half of surveyed merchants believe the mobile channel requires additional or specialized tools, compared to between two-thirds and three-quarters of merchants in each of the past studies…

• Most notably, merchant support for Apple Pay has gone down from 48% to 35%
• Google Pay (previously Android Pay), is down from 38% to 25%
• Support for PayPal increased (from 48% to 64%) while 10% accept AliPay and 10% accept other e-wallets.

June 14 Remitly Study Reveals 9 in 10 Immigrants in the U.S. Believe the American Dream is Still Achievable

Remitly found more than half of first-generation immigrants (60 percent) would still recommend relocating to the U.S. to a friend, family member, or colleague…Sixty-two percent of immigrants trust mobile technology to handle their finances

June 14 A global poll of SMEs and microbusinesses, conducted by global booking software platform SimplyBook.me, has discovered that tech skill shortages and the cost of administration are among the biggest threats to entrepreneurship in Britain after Brexit.

• The biggest surprise to business owners was needed to do ‘too many things at once’, with 43 per cent registering that as their biggest grievance ahead of admin at 39 per cent.
• 57 per cent of respondents chose time constraints (doing everything yourself) as the biggest challenge to growing a business ahead of not being able to hire the right staff (24 per cent).

June 14 A new survey among more than 100 founders of London tech startups, conducted by Studio Graphene in partnership with City RoadCommunications, has revealed the main staffing challenges and concerns that are holding back London tech companies. It found:
• 33% of the founders believe there is a shortage of skilled tech workers in London
• Worryingly, 30% also say their growth has been hampered as a result of them not being able to hire the right employees
• Finding people who fit the startup culture was also cited as a major issue:
◦ 39% of founders of London tech businesses say it is hard to find people who have the right mind-set and work ethic to be employed in a startup

June 12 Temenos
Latin American banks are racing to deliver digital banking to the masses says report released today by Temenos
• Regional change is driven by changing customer behaviour and demands according to 55% of banking survey respondents
• Latin American banks see a bigger impact coming from new entrants than their peers in the rest of the world (48% vs. 36% globally)
• For established banks, new payment players are the biggest threat according to 51% of respondents, followed by neo-banks (23%)
• Survey respondents think that in-house innovation centres (51%), accelerator/ incubator programs (48%), and creating closed bank hubs (48%) are the best way to innovate

June 11 Extend’s Millennials Report Shows Only 11% Of Millennials Have A Business Credit Card From Their Employer
The survey also found that nearly 25% of participants borrow a colleagues’ business credit card to make business purchases

• 44% buy travel, 55% food and car services, 56% business supplies or online services, and 24% pay for invoices (eg, marketing services, online research, conferences, etc.)
• 39% spend more than $500 a month on business expenses that are ultimately paid by their employer
• 30% find it difficult to have access to a mean of payment from their employer
• 25% borrow a business credit card from colleagues to make these business purchases while 67% use their personal credit card and then get reimbursed

May 2018 GlobalData

– 52.3% of global HNW investors reside in North America, but growth is more pronounced in Latin America, where the number of HNW individuals is forecast to grow by 48% between 2017 and 2021.
– Professionals make up 5 million individuals of the global HNW market, 4.8 million being entrepreneurs.
– 28.3% of HNW clients have been acquired through client referrals, making it the most successful channel.
– A longstanding advisor relationship is the most effective means of client retention, followed by portfolio performance and a firm’s brand image.