Digital Technology
While marketers typically spend vast amounts of money to increase customer acquisitions, fraud prevention can undercut those efforts. According to a recent 41st Parameter® study, average card-not-present declines represent 15 percent of all transactions; however, one to three percent of those declined transactions turn out to be false positives, equating to 1.2 billion dollars in lost revenue annually. Marketers can avoid unnecessary declines and create a seamless customer experience by communicating campaign plans to the fraud-risk team early on and coordinating marketing and fraud-prevention efforts. Download Experian’s latest fraud prevention report. Report: Holiday Marketing & Fraud
By: Maria Moynihan Mobile devices are everywhere, and landlines and computer desktops are becoming things of the past. A recent American Marketing Association post mentioned that there already are more than 1 billion smartphones and more than 150 million tablets worldwide. As growth in mobile devices continues, so do expectations around convenience, access to mobile-friendly sites and apps, and security. What is your agency doing to get ahead of this trend? Allocating resources toward mobile device access and improved customer service is inevitable, and, arguably, investment and shifts in one of these areas ultimately will affect the other. As ease of information and services improves online or via mobile app, secure logons, identity theft safeguards and authentication measures must all follow suit. Industry best practices in network security call for advancements in: Authenticating users and their devices at the point of entry Detecting new and emerging fraud schemes in processes Developing seamless cross-checks of individuals across channels Click here to see what leading information service providers like Experian are doing to help address fraud across devices. There is a way to confidently authenticate individuals without affecting their overall user experience. Embrace the change.
According to a recent 41st Parameter® study, 85 percent of consumers use online or mobile channels to conduct business.
Cherian Abraham, our mobile commerce and payments consultant, recently wrote about the future of mobile banking in regards to the Apple Pay news out this week. The below article originally appeared in American Banker and is an edited version of his blog post. Editor's note: A version of this post originally appeared on Drop Labs. Depending on who you ask, the launch of Apple Pay was either exciting or uninspiring. The truth is far more complicated — particularly in terms of how it will impact the dynamics of Apple's relationship with banks. I would venture that most of the financial institutions on stage at the launch of Apple Pay earlier this week have mixed feelings about their partnership. They have had to sacrifice a lot of the room for negotiation that banks have retained with other wallet players such as Google Wallet and Softcard (the company formerly known as Isis). If you are an Apple Pay launch partner, having your credential or token on Apple Pay does not mean that you get to extend that credential into your own mobile banking app or wallet. For example, Bank A, with its credentials stored on Apple Pay, cannot leverage those credentials so that its own mobile banking app can use them to enable direct payments. Banks will have to accept that their credentials will be indefinitely locked to Apple Pay till deletion. No bank wants its brand to be overshadowed by Apple, nor do banks want smartphone users to close their app and open up a different wallet to make a payment. But this was not up for debate with Apple, which wants to tightly control the payment experience. This should be a cause of concern for Apple Pay partner banks, for whom enabling payments outside of Apple Pay in iOS is now off the table. Banks' only hope of having an integrated payment experience is to focus on Android, which supports host card emulation technology. HCE uses software to emulate a contactless smart card and communicate with near-field communication readers. I would expect a lot of banks to revisit Android and HCE in upcoming months. That goes double for the institutions that were not chosen to partner with Apple, along with retailers who have not rejected contactless payments as a modality in stores. Given that Apple will reportedly collect fees from its partner banks when customers execute transactions on the mobile wallet, all banks should be thinking about ways that they can make their presence on other Apple offerings more lucrative. If I were them, I would begin segmenting customers who hold one of iTunes' 500 million active accounts to see which ones are affluent spenders and which cards have higher interest rates, then implement targeted customer incentive strategies to move Apple users to higher-rate cards. I would use the same tactic to convince customers to replace debit cards on file with iTunes with credit cards. But the big takeaway is that from here on out, banks can only gain incremental value from iOS. If they want to create a unified payment system that customers can use as part of their existing banking relationships, they'll have to focus on Android. Should that happen, I doubt that Apple could prevent such moves from diluting its merchant value proposition. But such moves on the part of issuers are hardly long-term strategies to incentivize frequent usage, merchant participation and overall customer value. Learn more about how Experian can help you with your mobile banking needs please visit: http://ex.pn/1t3zCSJ?INTCMP=DA_Blog_Post091214
As data breaches continue to attract publicity, consumers are expecting more from impacted organizations.
By: Mike Horrocks Last week I had a friend of mine (who would be a self-declared geek) go to GenCon in Indianapolis. For those that don’t know anything about GenCon, it is one of the largest gaming conventions in the world and it is the only time that you can expect to see everyday folks dressed up as superheroes or gaming icons walking the streets. I noticed however as he was sharing his photos that among the hundreds of Batmen, Supermen, and Wonder Women there were not many sidekicks. Now imagine what would Batman be like without Alfred, his trusty butler, friend, and guy who keeps the Bat-mobile running? So hold that thought and now think about your customers. They are your superhero. They help you hit your goals…but are you more than just a bank to them? So as part 2 of our follow up on the American Banker webinar, “What’s next for mobile banking”, I want to talk about some of the key points that Dominic Venturo, the chief innovation officer for US Bank covered, specifically about the role your financial institution can have in the life of your bank customers. Your customers are consumers. In the normal process of all things consumer they are constantly: Becoming aware of products in the market place Searching and evaluating offers Deciding and purchasing Experiencing moments that will create loyalty (or not) Triggering or receiving offers to start the process again So ask yourself, are you more than just a banker? Have you helped your customers in the process of picking the best value for them up to the point of spending that savings or needing credit? Or once the transaction is complete, have you been able to create a memorable experience or help that kind of transaction happen again? US Bank is doing a great job, as Dominic showed with its Peri app in being a part of that process and extending the role of the bank with the consumer. Just like Alfred was always tinkering or helping with the next Bat-gadget, great bankers will be working with, adapting to, and creating the next mobile experience. There are great organizations out there already that are helping remove the friction of the mobile space in actions like account acquisition, with Mitek and their driver license scanning to account opening apps. Is there an opportunity for you to add that function (or maybe something else) to the utility belt for your bank? So again consider what your role is for your customers. Can you be more than a banker to them? Where can you help them in the consumer process to add more value to their life? What kind of sidekick are you to your customer/your superhero? Or maybe even more important, does your customer feel like you are their superhero?? Next week we wrap up the mobile webinar series…until then.
By: Mike Horrocks Last week, I spoke to you about an American Banker webinar that Experian hosted on “What is next for mobile banking”. Hopefully you were able to attend, but for those that could not, I promised we would cover a few of the key points. So here we go. I just sent my youngest off to Kindergarten this week and along with the excitement about a new teacher, new friends, and of course recess comes the anxiety of a new building, a new routine and all that comes with change. As I saw my little guy getting nervous, his big 4th grade brother came over and reminded him that he would be his buddy and help him around the school that first day. This made me think about the mobile space. I am sure that there are a lot of readers that are excited to have an app on a smartphone that they can show their friends over drinks, but along with that excitement comes the fear of maybe not knowing all they don’t know in the mobile space and the risks that could come from that. They need a buddy. They need a trusted business partner. In the American Banker webinar, Gordon Baird of nD bancgroup called out just how important the right collaboration and partnership is for a financial institution looking to go into or expand their mobile banking footprint. Mutually beneficial partnerships that provide value beyond the typical mobile experience is what will retain mobile banking clients. Baird said it best as he explained, \"Cooperation is a competitive advantage.\" So when you are looking at your mobile banking strategies ask yourself: Is my approach an individual effort? If it is a solo effort, who can I bring to the table? What are the points in my customer’s mobile experience that I cannot optimize? Who can I partner with that can optimize the customer’s mobile experience? Do I have the right partners on my team or do I need to make some changes? It is a great time to be working on mobile banking strategies. There is so much innovation that the excitement and engagement has never been better - so take advantage of collaboration and partner up for success.
By: Mike Horrocks As summer comes to end, so does the summer reading list but if you are still trying to get one in, I just finished reading “Isaac\'s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History”, which is about Isaac Cline the resident meteorologist for U.S. Weather Bureau and the 1900 Hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas. It is a great read, using actual telegraphs, letters, and reports to show the flaws of an outdated system and how not looking to new sources of information and not seeing the values of nontraditional views, etc., lead to unfathomable destruction for the people of Galveston. As I read the book, I was challenged to think of what is right in front of me that I am not seeing for what it is, just like Mr. Cline ignored reports that would have clearly saved lives and helped predict the storm. So, how can this historical storm teach us a thing or two in the financial industry? Clearly one of the most rapidly changing aspects in banking today is the mobile channel. Many institutions have already adjusted to using it as a service channel, with remote deposit capture, balance, inquiry etc., but what are they doing to take it to the next step? On August 7, 2014, Experian is hosting a webinar by American Banker titled, “What is next for mobile banking?” The webinar will have a powerful panel with thought leaders such as Dominic Venturo, the Chief Innovation Officer at U.S. Bank, Gordon Baird, the Chief Executive Officer at Independence Bancshares, and Cherian Abraham, Senior Business Consultant with Experian’s Global Consulting Practice. If you are already using mobile or maybe trying to look at what you could change, this is a great session to attend. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to go into some of the key topics from this webinar and explore them some more. Hope to see you at this American Banker webinar.
A recent survey reveals that 30 percent of travelers have experienced identity theft while traveling or know someone who has.
A recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that a data breach is among the top three occurrences that affect brand reputation, along with poor customer service and an environmental incident.
The growing cost and number of data breaches has spurred more interest in cyber insurance. While companies often increase investments in technology and training programs to reduce the likelihood of a breach, a recent Ponemon Institute survey of risk-management professionals found that 31 percent of companies surveyed have cyber insurance and 39 percent plan to purchase cyber insurance in the future. Learn how to outline your response plan with our data breach response guide. Source: Managing Cyber Security as a Business Risk: Cyber Insurance in the Digital Age
A recent survey of government benefit agencies shows an increased need for fraud detection technology to prevent eligibility fraud. Only 26 percent of respondents currently use fraud detection technology, and 57 percent cite false income reporting as the leading cause of fraud. Insufficient resources and difficulty integrating multiple data sources were the greatest challenges in preventing eligibility fraud.
According to a recent Ponemon Institute study, 65 percent of study participants say their organization has had a data breach in the past two years involving consumer data outsourced to a third party. Most of these are preventable, as employee negligence accounts for 45 percent of data breaches and lost or stolen devices account for 40 percent.
At midnight yesterday, Google sent me an email on how the new GoogleWallet update will now allow me to store my “Citi MasterCard” online. As other Google Wallet aficionados may recall (Bueller..? Bueller..?), Citi was the lone holdout in Google Wallet’s journey to the cloud and its race to conformity. Though to the untrained eye the Google Wallet app experience was mostly uniform irrespective of the card used to pay at the point-of-sale, behind the scenes, if the Citi MasterCard was used, Google had to do things one way versus another way for the rest of the brood. Furthermore, sharing the precious real estate that is the Secure Element with Citi meant that Google had very little room to maneuver. Embedded SEs, despite being newer to market than SIM-based SE’s, were limited in storage versus other chips. The initial embedded SEs that Google Wallet relied on had about 76KB memory, which once you factor in all the trimmings that come with provisioning a card to SE (MasterCard PayPass applet among others), left very little wiggle room. So Google, forced by a number of factors (resistance from the carriers and issuers, rising costs and complexities attributed to the multiple TSM model, a lack of SE space to accommodate future provisioning) migrated to the cloud — and left a MasterCard proxy on the wallet that it could use to funnel transactions through. The only standout to this model was the umbilical cord to the original Google Wallet partner: Citi. I had predicted last September that the partnership’s days were numbered. When the wallet is Google’s, and it needs to both reclaim the space on SE and reduce the provisioning or account management costs that it owes to its TSM (FirstData), the only reason for it to carry the torch for Citi would be if Google Wallet customers demanded it. But it so happens that any returns for items purchased using Google Wallet untill today had also been slightly broken. If you bought an item using the virtual MasterCard then the returns followed one route; of you purchased an item via the Citi card then returns were handled a different way. Additionally, It was disappointing for a customer to see “Paypass Merchant” instead of “McDonalds” and “Sent” instead of “$25.54″ when paying with the Citi card in GoogleWallet(unless one was planning to hide a fastfood habit from a spouse). A small mess – especially when it should be attributed to powers beyond the partnership, but still a mess for Google who demands conformity in customer experience across all its offerings. In the end, this partnership served no broader purpose for either partner to keep alive for any longer. Google is ready to move on beyond Wallet 1.0 and realizes that it can do so without issuers in tow. Furthermore, it had been expected for a better part of three months that Google will launch its partnership with Discover and this puts Google as an indispensable element back in the mobile payment narrative. For the issuers who were originally courted by Google Wallet in its early days this serves as validation, that they were correct in choosing to stay away. But that is no excuse for ignoring what Google and others are building as a parallel framework to the value-added services (credit card rewards being one) card issuers use to show that customers will choose them over Google. (But if Google could tout interchange relief to merchants as an incentive to court them, don’t you think a Google Rewards program will be close behind, supported by credits redeemable the Google Play store? Once again, it’s not an if, but when.) Finally, where does this leave Citi? Citi is a global institution with enough smart people at their end to make up for lost time. Google Wallet did not become the boogeyman that issuers feared back in 2011, and Citi can afford to roll out its own mobile initiatives in a measured pace at a global scale. And there had been rumblings of a Citi wallet all through 2012 and we may see it soon manifest outside of the U.S. before Citi attempts to do so here. Google may have opted to cut the cord so that there is no ambiguity when that happens. But they still have both Citi and FirstData to thank for bringing it to the prom. You dance with the one that brung ya…or something like it. Do you think this means GoogleWallet is now adrift, loyal to its own quest? What’s next for Citi? What do you think? Please leave your opinions below. This is a re-post from Cherian's personal blog at DropLabs
Six states are the top producers of turkeys: Minnesota at 46 million, North Carolina at 36 million, Arkansas at 29 million, Missouri at 17.5 million, Virginia at 17 million and Indiana at 16.5 million. This accounts for nearly two-thirds of turkeys produced in the United States as of September 2012. The average wholesale price for frozen whole turkey during fourth-quarter 2012 is projected to range from $1.10 to $1.14 per pound -- similar to the 2011 fourth-quarter average price of $1.11 per pound. The average retail price for whole frozen turkeys in September 2012 was $1.62, about 6 cents lower than the average retail price for whole frozen turkeys in September 2011. Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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