All posts by David Britton
Digital identity solutions are a crucial component to enhancing the customer experience in digital transactions. Driven by verified data, digital identity as a concept benefits both businesses and consumers. Innovative and effective solutions can prevent costly fraudulent activity and enhance compliance measures for businesses and ensure a more convenient and protected experience for consumers. Consumer preference for digital transactions has grown exponentially and will continue to do so leading to higher customer expectations for a seamless and secure experience. Experian is deeply committed to developing leading solutions and has earned high rankings in industry experience, strength of product and seamless solutions in Juniper Research’s Digital Identity: Technology Evolution, Regulatory Landscape & Forecasts 2020-2025 Report. Juniper Research, one of the leading global analyst firms in the mobile and digital technology sector, evaluated vendors active in the digital identity space based on factors such as size, financial performance, global reach, product range, number of clients and strength of partnerships. Juniper provides the most comprehensive and progressive analysis of the digital commerce market in its market-leading Commerce & Fintech research. The report discusses new approaches in the identity space and highlights best practice recommendations for deployment, in which Experian continues to be a market leader and remains committed to the crucial nature of identity as a concept for businesses. Experian’s proprietary solutions and digital identity services are available through Experian’s CrossCore partner ecosystem, which combines advanced analytics, rich data assets, identity insights and fraud prevention capabilities. Businesses using the Experian CrossCore partner ecosystem can connect any new or existing tools and systems in one place to quickly adjust strategies based on evolving threats and business needs, which helps to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.
Most of us have experienced the feeling of frustration when it comes to online security protocols. You need to log-in to an account, but you’ve forgotten your password. When you choose an option to reset your password, you are asked to answer one of your security questions. But you forget which movie you said was your favorite while you were growing up. You take a guess, but unfortunately it’s the wrong one and you find yourself locked out of your account. At this point, you’re annoyed and wonder why accessing your account is so difficult in the first place. Historically, the attempt to balance customer security and convenience has been one of the biggest challenges online businesses have faced. As consumer expectations for smooth online experiences increase, businesses aim to deliver security protocols that make customers feel safe and protected, while allowing for easy and convenient access. According to our recent Global Fraud and Identity Report, 66 percent of consumers like security protocols when they transact online because it makes them feel protected. In fact, the lack of visible security was the number one reason customers abandoned a transaction. However, while consumers may tolerate the nuisance of common barriers to accessing their accounts, including forgetting their password or having to re-renter other security controls like CAPTCHA or two-factor authentication, higher friction doesn’t necessarily mean better security or a better overall experience. If businesses were able to offer a frictionless customer experience that was as secure, if not more secure, than the experience today, they could potentially increase overall revenue and growth. One-third of the consumers we surveyed said they would do more transactions online if there weren\'t so many security hurdles to overcome. And the number rose even higher in different age groups. For instance, the percentage rose to 42 percent when it came to millennials. We believe that a fundamental shift in the thinking is required. No longer, should businesses attempt to balance security against consumer convenience, but rather, we believe that with the right use of technology, analytics and data, both goals can be simultaneously achieved. In the name of both security and convenience independently, we are already seeing data-driven, artificial-intelligence powered systems operating behind the scenes. We believe that a merging of these two functions will yield significant benefits for the business as a whole. For this to work, businesses will need to gain and maintain the customer\'s trust without the familiar perception of security. Customers want to be recognized and businesses want to address the growing fraud they are experiencing. Solutions that combine device and behavioral intelligence with other data points such as biometrics, processed via advanced machine-learning, could help businesses in the future, simultaneously recognize their customers more accurately, and do so without challenging them. Winning companies will move from balancing security against convenience, to achieving both goals via a synergistic approach, and ultimately will evolve trust through technology, data and analytics.
As businesses, we want to know our consumers and their habits so we can offer the best customer experience possible, whether in store or online.