The world is experiencing a boom in technology-based financial services that today has led to at least 69% of active consumers in China accessing fintech services, while in India that number is 52% and in the UK 42%. This expansion is, unfortunately, also accompanied by a spike in digital fraud, placing these companies in a challenging position: managing to grow in number of clients while maintaining a high level of security in their onboarding process.
With this in mind, here are some keys that will help fintech companies to strengthen the identity verification of new clients while maintaining a great customer experience.
Accessing financial services has never been easier thanks to fintech companies, which have simplified the process for users to the point that opening an account only entails downloading an application, completing some basic registration data, scanning their identification, taking a photo and waiting for confirmation. Today, offering a 100% mobile experience is vital to compete in the financial services market and to seduce the customer. According to a survey by specialist firms nCino and IDology, 51% of Americans were using a mobile phone when they abandoned the process of opening a new account due to different reasons, including experience.
Investing in artificial intelligence systems can make a huge difference in terms of security and experience. In fact, it is increasingly common to adopt systems that allow verifying the identity of a new customer through operations as simple as taking a selfie. Facial recognition, a technology widely adopted in mobile phones, allows platforms to verify the identity of users immediately.
Artificial intelligence systems allow today to validate the identity of users through voice biometrics, a tool that, combined with other solutions, allows them to reduce paperwork while saving costs. By capturing and analyzing the voice of users, the systems allow operations to be processed remotely and securely.
Having a total traceability of verification and monitoring also requires advanced tools such as voicebots (virtual voice assistants), systems based on machine learning that help fintech companies to answer questions from their users in real time based on data and generate efficiency in those communication mechanisms that are so essential to avoid abandonment of the new account registration processes.
Analyzing a variety of user variables will help fintechs to understand and more effectively approach their potential clients or their existing base. A case of success in taking advantage of solutions such as big data is the fintech Lenddo, based in Singapore, which collects and analyzes information on social networks and other data stored on smartphones, to which users have previously given access, to issue credit ratings.
Adopting tools to assess the potential risks associated with your clients, carrying out continuous monitoring and overseeing payments and transactions are increasingly important strategies to avoid fraud. Today, this is possible thanks to platforms such as Preventor, which works on preventing financial crime through a cloud solution that allows companies to easily access this strategic information for decision-making.
As this boom of technology-based financial services has been generated, attacks focused on these services have also increased, as stated by the cybersecurity company ESET in a recent report based on a survey of 1,200 senior managers in a variety of industries in the UK, US, Japan and Mexico.
The financial sector has traditionally been one of the most prone to these types of attacks, but now business leaders are more aware of it. In fact, the survey revealed that 81% of senior managers surveyed agree that the current crisis resulting from COVID-19 "increased the need to improve the financial security of their organizations."
Do you know who are you doing business with, and do you know who your customer really is? This is a question that hundreds of companies in the fintech sector are trying to solve worldwide. Today, platforms such as Preventor solve this dilemma through a cloud-based identity verification solution that seamlessly integrates with frontend Apps and business processes. It also provides an overview of all compliance processes with a customer-centric and integrated end-to-end view. These technology solutions are capable of performing tasks ranging from customer onboarding to understanding their business, applying watch or penalty lists, case management, reporting, and auditing.
It is estimated that 56 million Americans had an account or financial service opened without their authorization in 2020, which in 77% of the cases affected those companies’ reputation. This shows that the opportunities to build trust are few and the security gaps high. This can only be solved by applying different layers of security, combining and integrating tools available on the market today.
