Tag: digital engagement
In a report made available this month, Juniper Research anticipates that in 2024, remote purchases for digital and physical goods will exceed 285 billion transactions per annum; an 80% increase on the figure for 2019. And, that values will increase by nearly 60% to over $9 trillion. It’s impossible to look at these numbers without considering the impact of the massive migration to digital channels that businesses and their customers made to stay engaged during the early response to Covid-19. Finding ways to support customers and their needs remotely has been met with a lot of creative solutions and we see new trends taking hold. For example, “buy online and pick up in-store” and “buy now and pay later” provides customers the access they need for goods and services now with a lot of conveniences. Convenience is a significant part of the customer experience but unfortunately can expose a business to a lot of fraud. According to David Britton, “Fraudsters will always be at the forefront of technology exploitation.” There is evidence of this not only in technological innovation but in the manipulation of human behavior, otherwise known as social engineering. According to Juniper, new technologies such as artificial intelligence will take social engineering to unseen levels of success, like the rise we're seeing in fictitious or synthetic identities. But while it might seem like an impossible problem to manage, businesses have solutions available to them to prevent fraud, including using AI against cybercriminals. In fact, Experian believes that there the layered approach to fraud detection and prevention can significantly protect businesses, and their customers, throughout the credit lifecycle, and withstand the changing face of fraud. Check out the report on key trends and capabilities required for securing digital payments and find out more about Experian's solution on the Juniper Research Leaderboard. Related content: Protect your family from potential fraud when kids are playing video games Getting to grips with the shifting fraud landscape
Over the past couple of months, every business, regardless of industry, has had to quickly find its bearings. This level of disruption is unprecedented; we may never see anything of this magnitude again in our lifetime. While urgent, the immediate needs created in the wake of the global pandemic shouldn’t be met with one-and-done solutions. It’s imperative that the solutions you offer not only enable your customers to manage the immediate crisis but also help you support them as they assimilate into the “new normal.” There’s therefore this added pressure for businesses to equip their teams with the necessary tools and knowledge to continue serving customers in a dynamic environment. It doesn’t take long to get left behind with new solutions, and new challenges, emerging on a regular basis. You have to keep up with the times so you can adapt your response to whatever is necessary and retain your value to your customers. How do you upskill your teams when traditional training is not an option? As Plato put it well before the Covid-19 pandemic turned our world upside down, a need or problem encourages creative efforts to overcome the challenge it presents. Recent research shows that companies that may have deferred their intended investment in training, are now resuming that commitment in order to meet new demands in this increasingly digital ecosystem: In an ILX Group survey, 51 percent of HR decision-makers said that ongoing digital learning has a direct effect on boosting employee morale, satisfaction, and longevity. A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that microlearning makes learning 17 percent more effective, and Software Advice reports that microlearning engages over 50 percent of participants. A study conducted by Brandon Hall found that digital learning requires 40 to 60 percent less employee time than classroom training. The Research Institute of America reports that learning retention rates improve from 8 to 10 percent for face-to-face training to 25 to 60 percent for digital learning. IBM research found that for every dollar you invest in digital learning, the result is $30 in productivity, mostly because employees save a lot of time through online learning and are able to resume work and apply the new skills faster. Taking advantage of technology to make knowledge accessible at the point of need As with the majority of our day-to-day activities, learning solutions now must be facilitated outside of a physical environment, such as the workplace or classroom. Having access to digital knowledge and training resources gives your teams enhanced flexibility to keep their skills up to date at their own pace, whether they are at home or in the office. Over the years, we’ve seen that offering learners training in multiple formats improves the overall success of the training, including enabling greater flexibility – offering different modalities is more likely to meet learner’s preferences - work clarity and job satisfaction. While your business may still be operating in a fog of uncertainty, ensuring access to the right tools and knowledge would give your team higher confidence in their ability to be of service, minimizing business disruption during this turbulent time.
“Password Incorrect"Are businesses making progress identifying customers online, or are they continuing to frustrate those customers with archaic identification and authentication methods? Businesses engaging with their customers online walk a precarious tightrope between offering a frictionless experience and securing user accounts against fraud. But with ever-evolving technology, we look at how businesses can get a grip on the changing world of fraud while offering a great customer experience. While easy digital experiences matter to end-users, especially now that any physical customer interaction is temporarily on hold, make no mistake about it: security is the most important factor when it comes to building trust with your customers. In fact, our annual Global Identity & Fraud report, published in February 2020, found that 74% of consumers consider security the most important factor related to their willingness to conduct business online. Moreover, ease of access to their accounts was a close second, with 72% of respondents saying they want less friction and more user-friendly solutions. But keeping track of multiple, complex passwords across hundreds of digital accounts and running a gauntlet of authentication hurdles is the antithesis of what customers want. The Evolution of Identification Businesses that are truly committed to providing customers with a secure and frictionless experience online are moving beyond traditional fraud mitigation methods when it comes to customer identity. They're adding multiple intelligent layers, many of which are completely invisible to end users, to add security and enable the fast, easy access customers expect. Traditional analogue measures, like signature cards and face-to-face interactions with customers by a bank employee, are nearly extinct. Now, like those dinosaurs of the pre-internet world, many digital fraud protection measures are also being rendered obsolete because they just aren't robust enough to confidently identify customers. But technology can help businesses address this disparity. More sophisticated strategies, such as the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence, can provide faster and more accurate authentication – while being less intrusive user experiences. Technology for Trust Thanks in large part to the rapid growth of smartphones and mobile devices, we've seen more sophisticated methods of authentication. One of the most common forms of two-factor authentication today are the nearly ubiquitous one-time passcodes that are sent by email or text. This second layer of authentication ensures that the user is in possession of the hardware being used for access and has access to a confirmed email account or mobile device. A downside of using these codes for verification, however, is that the user has to access email or messaging, which adds friction to the process, and is still not (on its own) immune to fraudsters. There is no one-size-fits-all solution The white knight of trust is a dynamic approach to both identity verification and authentication. To accomplish this, businesses need to layer solutions that provide insight into devices and behaviors on top of traditional two-factor options. Then apply advanced analytics to stop fraud while allowing 99% of customers to breeze through sign-up and ongoing account access. Many of the latest identity authentication controls are 'passive', so customers won't even notice that they are happening, making the customer experience both secure and smooth. Passive authentication can include behavioral risk assessments that compare the device against historical activities from the customer as well as evaluate how the customer is inputting information or navigating the page. This, paired with other measures such as enrolling customers' biometrics and using them for ongoing account accesses, can help ensure a seamless online experience. Looking for the right signals across data sources can quickly flag risk and move the customer through the digital enrolment or login without unnecessary friction. Related articles: Covid-19 as a Gateway to Fraud: Top 5 Global Fraud Trends to Watch Out for in 2020
There isn’t a roadmap for navigating through times like these but the reality can’t be ignored. The effects of the pandemic will forever change how lending businesses operate and engage with customers long after the health crisis is over. Businesses and consumers have basically been pushed to engage with each other digitally en masse and there are practical challenges that banks and financial services are faced with today that need to be addressed. Some of these issues require short-term adjustments to manage things like increased volume of call center inquiries with a remote workforce. But other issues have put a spotlight on massive areas in need of modernization such as the management of liquidity and risk. Businesses need to think critically about how they will use technology and innovation to transform their credit risk and fraud operations to better serve customers across channels. Here are three cost-effective strategies that will connect you with your customers faster and in their greatest time of need – now and post-Covid. Respond to the change in a fair and consistent way. Regulatory bodies and credit risk policies are designed to prevent against unfair lending decisions. But when federal funding to provide stimulus and pressure for payment holidays take hold, it’s creating a lot of uncertainty for how to handle its impact on the portfolio. Strong operational decision management capabilities provide businesses a way to quickly test new strategies and deploy them. In fact, this isn’t all that new to large banks and financial institutions. But smaller banks have considered it “out-of-reach”, a perception that isn’t true nor acceptable at time when there are solutions available on the cloud. A huge benefit to moving your strategy management to the cloud is the ability to flex up or flex down your costs at time when balancing your cash flow and discretionary spend or technology investments is a top priority. Flexing up for increased customer demand to handle hardship or government-backed small business loans is going to be fundamental during this crisis, and where cloud-based strategy management will really pay off. A further benefit is that you remove the complexity of the IT infrastructure and get access to enhanced features whether it’s new data sources, models, or improvements to security. This is especially important as we all know, necessity is the mother of all innovation and there will be a need to get more from your current software without wanting to replace legacy systems. Models that drive decisioning still work. Despite the lack of historical precedent for the current scenario, data and analytics are very effective in this rapidly changing environment. For example, many people are facing financial hardship right now which means businesses need a way to efficiently receive and process applications that out-sort those in need of special servicing. Understanding who was headed into default prior to Covid-19 and who is experiencing short-term default because of this situational unemployment is key for delivering the right products and terms. In fact, if there is anything transferrable from the 2007/08 recession (which was entirely different from what the world is experiencing now), is that you need to use analytics to discern habits from new behaviors and ensure you don’t use vanilla treatments for both. Businesses will undoubtedly see their analytics teams overstretched during this period, so now is the time to reduce the manual load and invest in machine learning and AI. These advanced tools can offer the fastest and best results for getting the right analytical capabilities or models in place. For larger organizations, this will mean having the agility to rapidly update and deploy existing models, and for smaller ones, it will mean building this from the ground up. To help, our data scientists have recently identified over 140 consumer credit attributes that can offer some insights even in unprecedented times to: Identify financially stressed customers earlierPredict future payment behavior accuratelyRespond to profile changes faster Re-define the customer journey. Businesses should remove all unnecessary friction by inspecting the customer journey right down to every click and interaction. Why is this important? It remains to be seen exactly what customer behaviors and expectations will take hold but it’s likely to leave a lasting imprint. The contactless way consumers engage with businesses puts more and more pressure on how effectively they’re using data and customer insights to make their interaction relevant. Relevance in the form of – Do I recognize that this is my customer enrolling in or accessing their account(s) or is it suspicious?What do I know about this customer to proactively adjust or deliver a contextually appropriate offer or the terms they will accept?Are there signs of “mental drop-out” or abandonment that signal improvements to the experience are needed?How can I deliver the same experience across channels and simplify complex transactions, like enrollment?Do my customers feel secure and do they trust my business to protect their information? This is an opportunity for organizations to reflect upon how they do business, both in terms of how effectively they operate, but also in light of consumers changing expectations about the way that they want to engage with the wider community. Beyond the data, having an appropriate and empathetic response to customers who feel stuck can increase rapport, build loyalty, and open new possibilities to work together in the future. Related articles: Digitally managing your at-risk customers most impacted by Covid-19Proactively restructuring debt to help improve customer affordabilityPredicting customer payment behavior in a time of extreme uncertaintyStay connected to your customers in times of unexpected change
Unlike your typical recession caused by a steady decrease in demand, today’s downturn was induced by the immediate mass closure of non-essential businesses. The frenzied pace that government and regulatory bodies have responded to reduce the impact on consumers with payment forgiveness or deferment programs has put a tremendous amount of pressure on lenders. It’s difficult to quickly understand the changes in credit profile of a previous solvent customer and to mobilize their operations teams to service these at-risk customers. Most companies but especially banks have been very proactive in digitally communicating with customers. They’ve been contacting consumers through email and posting messages to your accounts online offering to help. The problem will be when people start to experience financial difficulty, how do you support those consumers especially the vulnerable? Generally, the number of consumers who manage their debt month to month with low to no savings is the norm, that coupled with overall credit lines and debt utilization rates being at an all-time high creates somewhat of a perfect storm. With consumers facing unemployment or furlough at record numbers, the volume of people seeking hardship applications from their lender will skyrocket. According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 2.7 billion workers, representing 81% of the world’s workforce, has been impacted leaving millions of workers vulnerable to income loss and layoffs. This rapid increase in demand is and will continue to overload Call Center operations who are already under strain and operating at a lower capacity. And really, aren’t we all? Call centers are staffed with people like you and me – working remotely or socially distancing, all the while juggling the needs of their families and communities. And if it’s a lender who hadn’t yet made the digital transformation leap, these lenders could be putting additional pressure on systems that are difficult to access with a remote workforce. Implementing new software and operating rhythms in times of crisis is not ideal. Yet businesses don’t have the luxury of time and will need to evaluate their options and implement now. Here are 3 considerations for taking those first steps: Prioritize on-demand or cloud-first solutions for faster implementation Look for “as-a-service” options delivered in days versus months to help more customers faster Find operational efficiencies that support your employees and customers when it’s needed most Experian is helping businesses manage their at-risk customers whether they’re already in arrears or showing signs of payment stress for the first time. By linking digital communications channels to a collections platform and integrated decisioning environment, we’re helping address the significant increase in hardship demand with end to end treatment automation as a service. From the point of application, consumers drive the self-service interaction allowing businesses to quickly receive, accept/decline and process applications. Augmented with analytical insights for affordability and various types of propensity, businesses will better understand the actual financial position of a customer and be able to create a tailored treatment approach that’s sustainable. Whether short-term forbearance or true hardship is required, this can help reach more customers and free up call center teams to focus on more complex cases. It’s unlikely the economy will return to its pre-Covid conditions as rapidly as its declining, but your customers will trust your business if you were there for them in their greatest time of need. We can help you stay connected with your customer while supporting them in a meaningful way through this especially difficult period.
It’s possible the global Covid-19 pandemic will forever change the way we connect with others both personally and professionally. It seems the whole world went digital in a few weeks and it rapidly changed the way consumers and businesses engage with each other. Whether going digital was a part of your strategic plans or not, business leaders of all company sizes must rapidly adapt to this new normal and be prepared for the future post-pandemic. But where do you start? Lead with empathy and over-communicate Every life has been touched by the pandemic in some way or another which makes this rare event one of those truly shared experiences that happens globally. The way we conduct ourselves as leaders, employees, partners and customers requires empathy. Empathy for people that have been pushed to their limit juggling work and family. Empathy for programs and processes that are struggling to create or fulfill customer demand. And, empathy for business plans that were once designed for growth and now being redefined for resiliency. This duty of care for your employees and customers has the potential to create trusted, lifetime relationships with your brand. In fact, there is a tremendous opportunity for businesses to segment and use their data to tailor programs or communications strategies that will help customers access and manage their accounts easier at this difficult time. It might mean acknowledging customer service wait times are longer than usual and encouraging customer to go digital. Or, reminding customers to be diligent about their protecting their information and what to do if they are a victim of fraud. Re-think your plans and pivot quickly We’re in the middle of this change now – alternative operating conditions (e.g. remote working, call centers closed), shifting consumer behaviors (e.g. going digital, unemployment), potential new regulations and temporary changes to credit reporting – and it means that speed of adaptation to the new normal is critical. Here are four major pivot points all business leaders should be considering: 1. Customer engagement: With many operational centers closed, customer servicing necessitates a holistic omni-channel approach to customer management. Building trust with customers facing a crisis also requires businesses to deliver financial solutions that are bespoke to their needs. 2. Risk management challenges: A big question on every risk officer’s mind is: How can I accurately project the impact on my customer’s behaviors and my portfolio results? Model performance review and re-calibration will be necessary and implementing advanced analytics (e.g. machine learning) may speed up its impact. 3. Operational re-alignment: The ability to intelligently reallocate resources between an ever-increasing list of priorities is keeping up most technology officers. Everything from managing a dispersed workforce to onboarding new customers or small businesses. Embracing a cloud-first strategy could mean the difference between business continuity and resilience. 4. Protecting against fraud: Fraudsters will seize on the opportunity to exploit any signs of weakness for financial gain. Knowing where the blind spots area and putting in place the right size solution for the problem are necessary to protect your customer’s from fraud. Want to learn more about what Experian is doing to help consumers and businesses during covid19? Visit Experian’s Covid-19 Support page.
