Fight Identity Fraud, Provide Seamless Customer Experience - Ekata
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Strike That Balance: Fight Identity Fraud, Provide Seamless Customer Experience

Intersekt Panel 2022 Asks: What Are the Trade Offs? 

“The bar has been raised – and expectations are even higher,” Mastercard’s Vice President of Digital Identity, Matt Bourne

When it comes to seamless, immediate customer experience, consumers have been spoiled for some time now. Streaming services, car-share rides, or pizza delivery not up to scratch? We move on. Fast.

It’s day one at Intersekt 2022 and the ins and outs of consumer behaviour are on the agenda to kick-start Ekata’s first panel presentation. Joining Ekata and Mastercard is Michelle Henderson, Community Manager at Immersve, the world’s first multi chain payment protocol. It’s a fascinating showing of expertise as we delve into the current world of fraud prevention, data security, and customer experience – and look to the future.

Ekata’s Director of Business Development, James Sibbick explains that understanding the evolution of consumer behaviour is the ”first piece of the puzzle” when it comes to safeguarding data.

“Expectations might be high,” states James, “but convenience trumps frictionless. No one wants their data stolen.”

Where so many businesses go wrong in this evolving digital economy, the panel agrees, is in refusing to ask questions beyond: “What do our consumers want?”

“You must demonstrate trust,” emphasises Bourne, “trust in data security and data privacy. This is especially important in the world of fintech. Proving you can provide – and measure – trust. That is what the best and brightest in the industry can do.”

Such a statement perfectly introduces Immersve, a company that believes data privacy is paramount. Henderson details her company’s belief that the Open Metaverse, powered by the tech and values of Web3, will be “the next interaction of the internet.”

Web3 (also known as Web 3.0), incorporates concepts such as decentralisation, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics. Still very much in its “concept phase,” Web3 will combat the influence of larger technology companies by arguably providing increased data security, scalability, and privacy for its users. It is to be noted that concerns are raised about the idea of a decentralised web. Specifically, the low moderation could result in a proliferation of harmful content and a loss of privacy due to more expansive data collection.

While this exciting technology is touched on by the panellists, all in the business of looking to the future in an ever-evolving digital economy, the next point of discussion focuses on the now.

“Fraud is always catching up,” warns Bourne, who gives the example of a Mastercard customer who launches their business on a Monday morning, only to note suspicious applications come in by the early afternoon.

How to prevent such fraud attacks? This is the second piece of the puzzle. You need a combination of identity verification technology and human talent. As this is a discussion, the moderator opens the floor to questions. An audience member requests best practices, Ekata’s bread and butter.

“In a crowded marketplace, that first experience has to be amazing for the customer,” explains Sibbick. “We call it step-up authentication; as you get to know your consumer, step up the friction according to their risk scores to verify their identity.”

The next question, relevant in any discussion on Web3 technology and the future of data storage and security, is: “Are we going too fast? Can we slow things down? Should we slow things down?”

We bring the room back to the topic of balance and the ever-present tradeoff between data security and seamless customer experience. The panel agrees that education, as always, is key to protecting the vulnerable from scams. After all, we are all in the business of handling people’s money. Let’s be thoughtful and never stop asking questions.

To read more about consumers’ demand for security and a seamless user experience, please check out Ekata’s recent report detailing more than 7,000 consumers across North America and Europe: Infinite Want: Consumers Demand Speed and Security in the Digital Experience

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