Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat are all interested in the ever-expanding payments market, according to recent reports and acquisitions.

Here’s what they are doing:

• Facebook recently launched a Buy button;
• Twitter acquired CardSpring; and
• Snapchat filed for a patent for payment processing.

Should traditional financial institutions quake with fear?

Facebook consistently ranks low in “trust” surveys which asks which companies users trust the most. According to Javelin Research study released earlier this year, “social shoppers” — consumers who regularly use alternative payment methods — still trust traditional institutions like Visa (69%), PayPal (49%), and MasterCard (48%). That is not the case for the tech giants, which in the same survey scored poorly: Google, with 14% of respondents saying they trust the company; Facebook at 12%, and Apple 11%. However, traditional banks equally scored poorly in the trust category with 11% of respondents rating banks in the affirmative for “trust.” (Javelin says that the reason banks rated so low is because they have a limited social presences. Respondents did say that they would be more likely to use a mobile wallet from their bank than other alternatives).

Broadly, tech companies have a lot of ground to cover to reach the same level of trust that consumers have in banks and credit card companies, said Javelin senior analyst Nick Holland in a conversation with Bank Innovation. Holland says that “Facebook is at the bottom of the pile,” and other analysts agree. Aite Group’s Nathalie Reinelt said, “The recent Facebook study shows that the company basically does what they want with user data and this [privacy issues] definitely create a risk for Facebook.”

Reinelt was referring to a recent scholarly study by scientists who intentionally manipulated users’ Facebook News Feeds by populating them with positive or negative messages. Users did not know they were subjects in the study, which indicated that Facebook can alter a user’s mood. Users were outraged by the survey, citing it as another example of breached trust by Facebook.

Meanwhile, Snapchat suffered a major data breach last year, which compromised the user name of a large percentage of its users. The names were published online, and spam accounts have taken advantage of that and bombarded users with spam. (From personal experience, I can confirm that the spam still persists 10 months later.) Snapchat wasn’t included in the Javelin study, but it is safe to say that users will not feel comfortable about handing over their credit card information to Snapchat any time soon.

With massive data breaches and user manipulation, how can consumers trust tech companies? Financial institutions look like saints in comparison, emphasizing security and data protection. Not only that, but unlike tech companies, banks’ security is regulated — and enforced — by the federal government. When it comes to financial information, financial institutions have a distinct trust advantage over tech startups, which could go a long way, if banks can figure out how to leverage that trust efficiently.