Nearly three quarters (70%) of financial services organizations
are taking a strategic approach to identity verification to combat financial
crime and stay one step ahead of fraudsters according to insights from Trulioo,
the leading global identity verification provider.
The research was conducted in the UK and the U.S. to explore
how organizations are approaching identity verification during the COVID-19
crisis. It found that the key drivers for financial services firms in taking
such a proactive approach were a combination of: a desire to be best-in-class,
build trust, enhance customer experience and drive competitive advantage.
It comes at a time when the financial services industry is
at risk from heightened levels of fraud as criminals have looked to exploit the
COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, according to this Statista study, there was a 47%
increase in significant cyber fraud reported in August 2020.
“The increase in fraudulent activity as a result of the
pandemic isn’t the sole driver for the change in how financial services
companies approach identity verification, but it’s a situation that has
endorsed a ‘front-foot’ approach”, said Zac Cohen, COO, Trulioo. “While
reducing the impact of fraud is key, so too is increasing trust and privacy,
improving the customer experience and maximizing business revenues and
profitability – all of which are connected when it comes to a high-quality
identity verification experience.”
According to the research, over the last three years, there
has been a shift in the way that businesses approach identity verification. It
found that there has been a move away from “reactive identity verification” –
where identity verification is approached as a tactical and commoditized
necessity to ensure compliance – to “positive identity verification”. This is
where it is treated as a critical component of the customer journey and a
strategic driver of business value.
The research found one of the major drivers of change has
been speed – 72% of financial services organizations now include speed within
their measurement of identity verification performance. By tracking the average
speed it takes to verify a customer at the initial account creation stage and
further, along the customer journey, businesses are able to correlate this data
with rates of abandonment, improving service, trust, consumer experience and
profitability all while maintaining this highest standards of security.
Cohen concluded, ‘Consumers care deeply about protecting
their digital identity and security, and they want to know that the brands they
engage with are taking this seriously. But people don’t accept that robust
processes are an excuse for slow or cumbersome digital experiences. This is why
speed has become such a key factor within identity verification and is becoming
a key metric for businesses to gauge the performance of their identity
verification programs.”
Click here for the
original article.