It’s a sign of the times: High-visibility data breaches atonline and bricks-and-mortar retailers have consumers convinced,perhaps rightly, that their credit and debit cards are more at riskthan other things that are more important — health, for instance,or retirement savings. So those little plastic cards in theirwallets give them more nightmares than just about anythingelse.

A Honeywell consumer trust survey reveals that trust has becomea huge issue after major hacks at retailers such Target, NeimanMarcus and Michaels resulted in millions of consumers affected. Andconsumers don’t believe that it won’t happen again; 60 percent saysuch events will increase over the next year.

In fact, more consumers (93 percent) are afraid that theircredit/debit card data will be compromised than are afraid ofhealth problems (84 percent) or retirement savings worries (81percent) — concerns that one might expect to rank higher because oftheir importance in life. And they’re more worried about retailbreaches than they are about the privacy of their onlinecommunications (86 percent), which is remarkable considering theamount of press that issue has gotten.

The Honeywell survey found fears over retail breaches hasactually changed consumer behavior.

Seventy-six percent said they’re less likely to use a credit ordebit card at a retailer that suffered a data breach; 38 percentsaid they’d stop shopping there altogether if their own data hadbeen compromised — something Target can certainly attest to, afterseeing sales fall from 43 percent of U.S. households in January of2013 to 33 percent in January of 2014 (after its breach becamepublic).

Honeywell said that those most concerned about the security oftheir credit and debit card information are female, those withincomes less than $75,000 annually, and those without a collegedegree.

Of course, in the long run, this could be a good thing forretirement savings — although credit card companies and retailerscertainly won’t think so.

According to the survey, “(E)conomic and psychological research haslong shown that consumers tend to spend more when paying withcredit cards than when paying with cash.”

Therefore, anything that impedes the urge to part with money couldend up as savings for retirement.