Customer Experience

Experian's new global report is now available on how businesses can enhance efficiency, insights, and growth through integration to transform the future of risk strategy. Download report In the ever-evolving financial landscape, the convergence of credit risk, fraud risk, and compliance is becoming a game-changer. Financial institutions (FIs) increasingly recognise the need to integrate these functions to enhance efficiency, gain deeper insights, and drive growth. The 2024 global report on the convergence of credit, fraud, and compliance sheds light on this critical transformation, emphasising how a unified strategy can revolutionise risk management. The report highlights the importance of convergence in shaping the future of financial services. We surveyed 750 leaders in credit risk, fraud risk and compliance in financial services organisations across the world. Inside the report: The need for convergence As technology advances, financial institutions (FIs) face the dual challenge of managing complex systems while simplifying consumer processes. The report reveals that organisations use an average of eight tools across credit, fraud, and compliance, with some using more than ten. This fragmentation leads to inefficiencies and increased risks.In addition, 79% of respondents want to work with fewer vendors to manage credit risk, fraud, and compliance, underscoring the need for streamlined operations. Independent evolution of functions and associated challenges Credit risk, fraud risk, and compliance functions have evolved independently, creating operational silos and technology management challenges. This separation has led to increased fraud and credit losses. The report highlights that only 9% of organisations prioritise these functions equally, with most focusing on fraud. However, 87% of respondents acknowledge the overlap between these areas and are working towards closer collaboration. Regulatory pressures and advanced fraud techniques New regulations in the US, UK, and EU are compelling FIs to reimburse consumers for losses due to scams, increasing the liability for both sending and receiving banks. Penalties for failing to implement effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions have also intensified. These regulatory demands and advanced fraud techniques necessitate a more integrated approach to risk management. Early stages of convergence While the market is beginning to recognise the benefits of convergence, many FIs are still in the early stages of this journey. The convergence speed varies, but mature organisations have already started or plan to start the process soon. The report shows that 91% of respondents believe that forward-looking companies will centralise these functions within the next three years. However, only 15% prefer a 'point solution', 36% prefer a single integrated solution, and 49% prefer modular integration. The role of technology Technology plays a crucial role in integrating functions and managing risk. Next-generation platforms are essential for adapting to market needs, delivering innovative products, and meeting regulatory requirements. The report emphasises the importance of data aggregation, which combines diverse data for deeper insights, and the integration of credit decisioning and fraud detection solutions to balance risk and growth goals simultaneously. Improving risk management through alignment Correctly identifying consumers, managing fraud risk, making informed credit decisions, and ensuring compliance share common ground. The report shows that 57% of respondents believe aligning credit risk, fraud, and compliance functions leads to better overall risk management. Businesses with more centralised practices report improved risk management effectiveness, operational efficiencies, and data integrity. Benefits of convergence The convergence of credit risk, fraud, and compliance offers numerous benefits, including: Improved risk management effectiveness: Better alignment leads to more effective risk management strategies. Operational efficiencies: Streamlined processes and reduced duplication of efforts enhance operational efficiency. Increased data integrity: Centralised data management ensures consistency and accuracy. Cost reduction: Consolidation of functions and technology reduces costs. Enhanced customer experience: A unified approach improves customer recognition and service across all channels. Read the report to find out how to prove value through integration. Download report

Using business and consumer quantitative and qualitative research from the UK, US, Brazil, EMEA, and APAC between 2023 and 2024, we assess the current global impact of fraud. Download now As 2024 draws to a close, businesses face an increasingly hostile environment in the battle against fraud. Driven by rapid technological advancement and evolving regulatory landscapes, organisations seek new ways to prevent and detect highly sophisticated attacks. Experian’s 2024 Global Fraud Report offers a deep dive into the current state of fraud, revealing critical insights and strategies businesses must adopt to stay ahead of fraudsters. Read the report to discover: Why security and customer experience are still in conflict In today’s digital age, businesses face the daunting task of balancing robust fraud prevention with a seamless customer experience. The report highlights that while stringent security measures are essential, unnecessary friction can drive customers away. A multi-layered approach to fraud prevention, integrating advanced technologies with customer-friendly practices, is crucial. The power of data sharing Data sharing has emerged as a powerful tool in the fight against fraud. By collaborating and sharing data across industries, businesses can gain a comprehensive view of fraud patterns and enhance their detection capabilities. Regulatory frameworks in regions like Brazil and the UK increasingly support data-sharing initiatives, which are vital for effective fraud prevention. What the rise in Authorised Push Payment Fraud means for businesses APP fraud has seen a significant rise in some parts of the world due to newly accessible GenAI tools enabling fraudsters to create more convincing scams at scale. Financial institutions are under pressure to implement measures to protect consumers and comply with new regulations that mandate reimbursement for APP fraud victims. How to uncover synthetic identities Synthetic identity fraud is a growing concern. The report reveals that advancements in GenAI have enabled the creation of highly realistic fake identities, making detection more challenging. Businesses need to invest in advanced analytics and alternative data sources to uncover synthetic identities effectively. Why AI and machine learning are critical to fraud prevention AI and machine learning are pivotal in modern fraud prevention strategies. The report underscores the necessity of these technologies in detecting and preventing fraud. AI and machine learning can analyse vast amounts of data to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activity. Download the report to discover the 5 key takeaways to combat evolving fraud The 2024 Global Fraud Report reinforces the need for businesses to leverage advanced analytics, alternative data insights, data sharing, and a multi-layered approach to combat evolving fraud threats globally. Download report now About the research The 2024 Global Identity and Fraud Report uses the latest research from the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, EMEA, and APAC between 2023 and 2024 to examine fraud worldwide. The research provides combined insights globally from over 1,000 businesses and fraud leaders, as well as 4,000 consumers, focusing on fraud management and digital experience. See the report appendix for full details of the research.

Experian has been named a leader in Liminal’s Link Index for Account Takeover Prevention in Banking. Download Report Advances in technology have increased the scale and sophistication of fraud attacks for businesses around the globe with a significant increase in recent years in account takeover fraud (ATO). During the pandemic there was a rise in account opening attacks as the world moved in lockstep to digital channels, creating huge growth in online digital accounts. Now fraudsters are attempting to takeover those digital accounts and are leveraging AI tools to convince consumers to give away their login credentials, creating an enormous financial risk and loss for banks and other service providers. In a March 2024 survey of bank buyers across North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, Liminal found that ATO attacks now average $6,232 per incident, while fraud teams have reported a 66.8% increase in social engineering attacks in the past two years. However, Liminal also found that despite the growing exposure, only 44% of banks are leveraging mobile device signals. The opportunity for banks to implement more effective tools is the result of a combination of factors: 96% are worried about balancing ATO prevention with privacy laws. 82% say customization was necessary to comply with regional regulations. 96% have concerns about limitations on device signals stemming from data restrictions with consumer technologies. As a result, banks are faced with a three-pronged problem: simultaneously solving for authentication, identity and fraud prevention. Identity across the customer lifecycle Truly understanding a customer, especially in a digital-first environment where hundreds of billions of events occur each year, requires much more than ensuring a name matches a social security number and a physical address. The customer, their account information, the device they use, the network they are coming from, the geolocation of their device, and the behavior they exhibit are intertwined. Banks must now assess more information than ever before to try to distinguish between a legitimate customer and fraudsters. This challenge only gets harder when businesses require more complex passwords, which users promptly forget. Fraudsters, ever creative, exploit the password reset processes to impersonate the customer and convince businesses to give them the new reset password. In ATO attacks, often the only data presented to a business by the user at the time of login is a username and password. However, there are hundreds of other variables that may be passed back and forth between the device and the business in that digital moment, which can be useful for identifying potential threats or legitimate users. This exercise can be a monumental task that involves capturing vast data sets, knowing the difference between critical data and data that increases workload, analyzing that data and then marrying that back to what you know about the customer, all in a few milliseconds. And this is where one of the biggest hurdles exists. These vast data sets sit across a complex set of systems and technologies that have been implemented (but not fully integrated) over time. And consider within this context, the authentication team managing ATO that would otherwise benefit from a cohesive set of data isn’t usually aligned with the general fraud teams and is even further separated from the credit risk or compliance teams. These gaps in technologies and teams hinder ATO prevention and provide zero support for any interdependencies with other critical functions – and fraudsters are more than happy to exploit this weakness. On the other hand, managing a more complete view of the customer (which allows the business to streamline operational costs, data costs, and infrastructure costs) to prevent more ATO attacks and provide a more seamless experiences for the consumer has never been more possible. A fundamental shift in mindset is required to prevent fraudsters from exploiting gaps between business functions. Legitimate customers do not care about these internal divisions; they only see the inconsistency when one part of the business has no knowledge of them compared to another. This disconnect not only frustrates customers but also undermines trust and security. To effectively combat ATO attacks, financial institutions must leverage comprehensive data insights that cover various touchpoints. Integrating identity verification, device intelligence, and behavioral analytics is essential for distinguishing legitimate users from fraudsters. Breaking down traditional silos and enabling seamless data sharing ensures a holistic approach to fraud prevention, delivering a secure and frictionless customer experience. Liminal, a leading market intelligence firm specialising in digital identity, cybersecurity, and fintech markets, recently named Experian as a leader in its Link Index for ATO Prevention in Banking. Leading in ATO prevention The report highlights vendors that lead in authentication, fraud and identity and based on two primary criteria: product execution and strategic positioning. As a top-ranked vendor overall and in product execution, Experian’s performance underscores the effective integration of identity management in our solutions, positioning us as a leader in shaping strategies for account takeover prevention over the next five years. Download Liminal’s Link Index for ATO Prevention in Banking “When it comes to ATO prevention, banks are prioritizing highly accurate solutions that minimize fraud losses and limit financial loss, while reducing customer abandonment through a seamless user experience. Overall satisfaction is most strongly correlated with scalability. As a leader in this evaluation, Experian not only delivers these capabilities to banks, it also demonstrates an unparalleled ability to meet the market’s growing demand, which is projected to reach $1.5 billion by 2028.” Will Charnley, Chief Operating Officer, Liminal The report details the trends that are fundamentally reshaping the ATO threat landscape and today’s specific challenges, as well as those on the horizon, that banks must overcome, while also meeting an increasing expectation of customer satisfaction. Key statistics detail a prescriptive assessment of the market landscape and total addressable market, as well as findings from a March 2024 survey of banks conducted by Liminal, which includes: Specific key purchasing criteria (KPC). The scale and average cost (by volume and per incident) of ATO attacks. A descriptive methodology for calculating fraud loss opportunity costs. A priority-tiered description of ATO solution capabilities. As banks continue to operate in a competitive digital environment that favours excellent customer experience in parallel with fraud prevention, it is crucial to recognize that the front-end experience mirrors back-end operations; therefore, creating seamless integration on both sides is critical. Download Report CrossCoreR provides a fully-featured toolkit that leverages a wide range of capabilities for highly accurate and scalable ATO prevention.

We explore four fraud trends likely to be influenced the most by GEN AI technology in 2024, and what businesses can do to prevent them. 2023: The rise of Generative AI 2023 was marked by the rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GEN AI), with the technology’s impact (and potential impact) reverberating across businesses around the world. 2023 also witnessed the democratisation of GEN AI, with its usage made publicly available through multiple apps and tools such as Open AI's Chat GPT and DALL·E, Google's Bard, Midjourney, and many others. Chat GPT even held the world record for the fastest growing application in history (until it was surpassed by Threads) after reaching 100 million users in January 2023, just less than 2 months after its launch. The profound impact of GEN AI on everyday life is also reflected in the 2023 Word of the Year (WOTY) lists published by some of the biggest dictionaries in the world. Merriam-Webster’s WOTY for 2023 was 'authentic'— a term that people are thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more than ever. It's also not a surprise that one of the other words outlined by the dictionary was 'deepfake', referencing the importance of GEN AI-inspired technology over the past 12 months. Among other dictionaries that publish WOTY lists, both Cambridge Dictionary and Dictionary.com chose 'hallucinate' - with new definitions of the verb describing false information produced by AI tools being presented as truth or fact. A finalist in the Oxford list was the word 'prompt', referencing the instructions that are given to AI algorithms to influence the content it generates. Finally, Collins English Dictionary announced 'AI' as their WOTY to illustrate the significance of the technology throughout 2023. GEN AI has many potential positive applications from streamlining business processes, providing creative support for various industries such as architecture, design, or entertainment, to significantly impacting healthcare or education. However, as signalled out by some of the WOTY lists, it also poses many risks. One of the biggest threats is its adoption by criminals to generate synthetic content that has the potential to deceive businesses and individuals. Unfortunately, easy-to-use, and widely available GEN AI tools have also created a low entrance point for those willing to commit illegal activities. Threat actors leverage GEN AI to produce convincing deepfakes that include audio, images, and videos that are increasingly sophisticated and practically impossible to differentiate from genuine content without the help of technology. They are also exploiting the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) by creating eloquent chatbots and elaborate phishing emails to help them steal important information or establish initial communication with their targets. GEN AI fraud trends to watch out for in 2024 As the lines between authentic and synthetic blur more than ever before, here are four fraud trends likely to be influenced most by GEN AI technology in 2024. A staggering rise in bogus accounts: (impacted by: deepfakes, synthetic PII)Account opening channels will continue to be impacted heavily by the adoption of GEN AI. As criminals try to establish presence in social media and across business channels (e.g., LinkedIn) in an effort to build trust and credibility to carry out further fraudulent attempts, this threat will expand way beyond the financial services industry. GEN AI technology continues to evolve, and with the imminent emergence of highly convincing real-time audio and video deepfakes, it will give fraudsters even better tools to attempt to bypass document verification systems, biometric and liveness checks. Additionally, they could scale their registration attempts by generating synthetic PII data such as names, addresses, emails, or national identification numbers. Persistent account takeover attempts carried out through a variety of channels: (impacted by: deepfakes, GEN AI generated phishing emails)The advancements in deepfakes present a big challenge to institutions with inferior authentication defenses. Just like with the account opening channel, fraudsters will take advantage of new developments in deepfake technology to try to spoof authentication systems with voice, images, or video deepfakes, depending on the required input form to gain access to an account. Furthermore, criminals could also try to fool customer support teams to help them regain access they claim to have lost. Finally, it's likely that the biggest threat would be impersonation attempts (e.g., criminals pretending to be representatives of financial institutions or law enforcement) carried out against individuals to try to steal access details directly from them. This could also involve the use of sophisticated GEN AI generated emails that look like they are coming from authentic sources. An influx of increasingly sophisticated Authorised Push Payment fraud attempts: (impacted by: deepfakes, GEN AI chatbots, GEN AI generated phishing emails)Committing social engineering scams has never been easier. Recent advancements in GEN AI have given threat actors a handful of new ways to deceive their victims. They can now leverage deepfake voices, images, and videos to be used in crimes such as romance scams, impersonation scams, investment scams, CEO fraud, or pig butchering scams. Unfortunately, deepfake technology can be applied to multiple situations where a form of genuine human interaction might be needed to support the authenticity of the criminals' claims. Fraudsters can also bolster their cons with GEN AI enabled chatbots to engage potential victims and gain their trust. If that isn’t enough, phishing messages have been elevated to new heights with the help of LLM tools that have helped with translations, grammar, and punctuation, making these emails look more elaborate and trustworthy than ever before. A whole new world of GEN AI Synthetic Identity: (impacted by: deepfakes, synthetic PII)This is perhaps the biggest fraud threat that could impact financial institutions for years to come. GEN AI has made the creation of synthetic identities easier and more convincing than ever before. GEN AI tools give fraudsters the ability to generate fake PII data at scale with just a few prompts. Furthermore, criminals can leverage fabricated deepfake images of people that never existed to create synthetic identities from entirely bogus content. Unfortunately, since synthetic identities take time to be discovered and are often wrongly classified as defaults, the effect of GEN AI on this type of fraud will be felt for a long time. How to prevent GEN AI related fraud As GEN AI technology continues to evolve in 2024, its adoption by fraud perpetrators to carry out illegal activities will too. Institutions should be aware of the dangers they possess and equip themselves with the right tools and processes to tackle these risks. Here are a few suggestions on how this can be achieved: Fight GEN AI with GEN AI: One of the biggest advantages of GEN AI is that while it is being trained to create synthetic data, it can also be trained to spot it successfully. One such approach is supported by Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) that employ two neural networks competing against each other — a generator and a discriminator. The generator creates synthetic data, while the discriminator evaluates the generated data and tries to distinguish between real and fake samples. Over time, both networks fine tune themselves, and the discriminator becomes increasingly successful in recognising synthetic content. Other algorithms used to create deepfakes, such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and Autoencoders, can also be trained to spot anomalies in audio, images, and video, such as inconsistencies in facial movements or features, inconsistencies in lighting or background, unnatural movements or flickering, and audio discrepancies. Finally, a hybrid approach that combines multiple algorithms often presents more robust results. Advanced analytics to monitor the whole customer journey and beyond: Institutions should deploy a fraud solution that leverages data from a variety of tools that can spot irregular activity across the whole customer journey. That could be a risky activity, such as a spike in suspicious registrations or authentication attempts, unusual consumer behaviour, irregular login locations, suspicious device or browser data, or abnormal transaction activity. A best-in-class solution would give institutions the ability to monitor and analyse trends that go beyond a single transaction or account. Ideally, that means monitoring for fraud signals happening both within a financial institution’s environment and across the industry. This should allow businesses to discover signals pointing out fraudulent activity previously not seen within their systems or data points that would otherwise be considered safe, thus allowing them to develop new fraud prevention models and more comprehensive strategies. Fraud data sharing: Sharing of fraud data across multiple organisations can help identify and spot new fraud trends from occurring within an instruction's premises and stop risky transactions early. Educate consumers: While institutions can deploy multiple tools to monitor GEN AI related fraud, regular consumers don't have the same advantage and are particularly susceptible to impersonation attempts, among other deepfake or GEN AI related cons. While they can't be equipped with the right tools to recognize synthetic content, educating consumers on how to react in certain situations related to giving out valuable personal or financial information is an important step in helping them to remain con free. Learn more with our latest fraud reports from across the globe: UK Fraud Report 2023 US Fraud Report 2023 EMEA + APAC Fraud Report 2023

Lenders prioritise automation above all, according to research. In a study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Experian, we surveyed 660 and interviewed 60 decision makers for technology purchases that support the credit lifecycle at their financial services organisation. The study included businesses across North America, UK and Ireland, and Brazil. Research from Forrester on behalf of Experian found that automation is the top priority for businesses, and regardless of the specific industry or region, decision-makers consistently identified it as an important area of focus, and the biggest challenge. Lenders are using automation across the credit lifecycle and intend to invest further in the next 12 months, but there are multiple barriers to enhancing automation. We look at the use cases for automation and address the key challenges lenders face when automating decisions. The automation agenda The interpretation and application of automation vary hugely across the maturity spectrum of businesses in our research. While some companies consider automation as a means of simplifying tasks, such as the transition from manual processes to electronic spreadsheets, others are embracing its more advanced forms, such as AI-powered models. Use cases for automation in lending Customer service chatbots using Natural Language Processing (NPL) combined with Robotic Process Automation system (RPA). Remote verification of customers using machine vision and RPA to cross-check data. Data governance - data cleansing of personal information from within data using RPA and NPL. Operational efficiencies using process mining and AI to identify automation opportunities. Credit and fraud risk decisioning, using machine learning. Automation is about making processes as slick and robust as possible, giving the consumer a rapid journey so they can get processed very quickly, while behind the scenes lenders are making the best possible, compliant decisions, that protect them from losses around both credit risk and fraud.Neil Stephenson, Vice President of Experian SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS CONSULTANCY The changing face of automated decision-making in line with rapid tech advancements makes the use of automation by lenders a more complex opportunity than most. On one side there is the chance to enhance models with AI-powered tools to take away manual and subjective decision-making from processes. On the other, there’s the issue of governance and compliance – how to explain models that remove humans altogether. Introducing automation into some parts of the credit lifecycle isn’t always straightforward. Customer management has benefited from a lot of investment in the automation space over the years, particularly Natural Language Processing (NLP), but according to our research, the priority for business investment for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the next 12 months is originations. With onboarding playing such a key role in both customer experience and portfolio growth, businesses are looking to enhance this part of the credit lifecycle with automation. Customer experience is driving growth Automation plays a pivotal role in improving the customer journey and experience. The research showed that enhancing customer experience ranked even higher than growth as a priority for many organisations. As businesses strive to deliver seamless and personalised interactions, automation provides the necessary foundation for digital success, which in turn can strengthen competitiveness while retaining valuable customers. "Strategically investing in automation offers businesses the opportunity to scale operations, with a primary focus on growth. In times of economic uncertainty, more targeted, customer-centric strategies, that encompass more accurate predictive models, built on up-to-date samples and executed rapidly, can help mitigate a higher-risk lending backdrop." says Neil Stephenson, Vice President of Experian Software Solutions Consultancy. "Customer experience is the battleground for businesses, where they compete to deliver the best digital journeys in the market. It's a battleground that isn’t just about increasing revenue – the market perception of an organisation can be as important as growth in some portfolios because businesses have a reputation to protect." Automating decisions can ensure customer experience is truly seamless, but businesses face multiple barriers when it comes to credit and risk decision automation. Reducing referred applications  From scoring regression models to the development of machine learning models, better and smarter analytics are critical to drive the processes responsible for making application decisions. Reducing referred applications in turn decreases the need for manual intervention. By minimising the volume of applications in the middle of the credit score, lenders have a clearer and ultimately more automated approach to application accepts and declines. We interviewed decision-makers to understand the numerous challenges faced by lenders when automating decisions: Increasing data sources to allow for a more complete picture of the consumer Improved data quality, and increased volume of data Prevention of model bias The complexity of consumer type attached to some products Redundancy in data input and analytics Training across key roles for a better understanding of automation capabilities Explaining decisions based on machine learning models to regulators Complex fraud referral processes For many respondents, automation is about accuracy and efficiency. By improving automation, there are fewer instances of errors and delays. To ensure scalability can exist in consistent, compliant, and accurate processes that work for both the business and the consumer, here are 10 tips to help tackle the challenges faced by lenders when it comes to automating decisions: Embrace advanced data aggregation tools and technologies that can efficiently collect and integrate data from various sources. Partner with known, trustworthy data providers to enrich datasets. Explore the use of no-code data management tools that allow users to add and remove data sources more quickly and easily. Implement data quality processes. Regularly audit and clean data to remove inconsistencies. Move to cloud-based solutions for scalable data storage and processing of very large datasets. Regularly audit (monitor) machine learning models for bias.  Eliminating sampling bias is not yet possible but using a range of datasets (samples) and various sampling techniques will ensure representation across different demographics to help minimise bias. Develop specific models for different consumer segments or product categories. Regularly update models based on evolving consumer trends and behaviours. Conduct a thorough analysis of data inputs and streamline redundant variables. Use feature selection techniques such as correlations, weight of evidence, and information value to identify the most relevant information. Foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration for all key stakeholders involved in the credit decisioning and strategy process. Develop transparent models with explainable features. Use interpretable machine learning algorithms that allow for clear explanations of decision factors at the customer level. Streamline identity verification processes by using smart orchestration to reduce false positives and prevent fraud. More on automated decision-making from PowerCurve – North America More on automated decision-making from PowerCurve – UK Related content: Digital decisioning

With heightened consumer demand for an improved customer experience online, and the increasing threat of fraud, how can organizations ensure secure and efficient customer onboarding in today's digital landscape? Onboarding the highest number of customers while maintaining compliance and security Digital account opening is in demand. Businesses are competing to create the most effective onboarding experience, while managing the need to draw on multiple sources during account opening. The onboarding stage of the customer lifecycle plays a pivotal role in establishing trust between the customer and the business. Friction during the digital account opening process can lead to customer dropouts, resulting in lower growth for organizations. Moreover, the ever-present threat of fraud necessitates organizations to be vigilant and enhance customer journey with an added layer of verification and protection. Liminal, a leading market intelligence firm specializing in digital identity, cybersecurity, and fintech markets, recently recognized Experian as a market leader for compliance and fraud prevention capabilities and execution in its Liminal Link Index on Account Opening in Financial Services. Download report The report highlights that solution providers in financial services are focused on delivering high levels of assurance while maintaining regulatory compliance and minimizing user friction. Access to real-time verification data, risk analytics and decision-making strategies make it possible for clients to verify identities, detect and prevent fraud, and ensure regulatory compliance. Experian’s identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, including CrossCore® and Precise ID®, received the highest Link Score out of the 32 companies highlighted in the report. It found that Experian was recognized by 94% of buyers and 89% identified Experian as a market leader. “We’re thrilled to be named the top market leader in compliance and fraud prevention capabilities and execution by Liminal’s Link Index Report. We’re continually innovating to deliver the most effective identity verification and fraud prevention solutions to our clients so they can grow their business, mitigate risk and provide a seamless customer experience.”Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer for Experian’s Decision Analytics business in North America The report offers valuable insights into the market overview, demands, challenges, purchasing criteria, vendor landscape, landscape analysis, and buyer opportunities. Access full report

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, businesses are inundated with an unprecedented amount of data and information. Making informed decisions with the data quickly and effectively has become a crucial factor for success. Enter digital decisioning—a transformative approach that harnesses the power of data, analytics, and automation to drive reliable and expedited decision-making. This article delves into the world of digital decisioning, exploring its significance, components, and benefits.  The Essence of Digital Decisioning  At its core, digital decisioning is the process of leveraging software solutions that use digital decisioning platforms or custom-built engines to author decision logic; use decision intelligence technologies such as machine learning and AI; use digital decisions in vertical and horizontal use cases; and manage the full decision logic lifecycle, including feedback loops, to continuously improve decision logic. It enables organizations to make well-informed choices by automating and optimizing complex decision processes. By amalgamating data from various sources in real-time, including credit data, user behavior, market trends, historical data, and external factors, digital decisioning ensures that timely decisions are not only data-driven but also contextually relevant.  Components of Digital Decisioning  Continuous Data Feed: This is the lifeblood of digital decisions. Organizations normalize data from disparate sources to form comprehensive and accurate datasets. Customer data might include income, credit history, transactional data, bill payment, or digital footprint data; however, regardless of the sources, it’s critical that data is coalesced into a single, virtualized view.   Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning: Analytics and machine learning algorithms are deployed to extract meaningful insights from the collected data. These insights are used to model decision scenarios, predict outcomes, and uncover hidden patterns.  Decision Models: Decision models are created based on the insights derived from data analysis. These models define the rules and logic for making decisions, incorporating factors such as risk tolerance, business goals, and regulatory compliance.   Direct Feedback Loop: Every decision has an outcome. For example, an automated loan offer is either accepted or declined by the customer. These outcomes — good and bad — automatically feed into the decisioning model, which enables the machine learning technology to “learn” which decisions are optimal, given the circumstances and customer profile. This enables the model to adapt and grow more accurately and precisely over time.  Automation: Automation engines execute the decision models in real time, allowing for rapid and consistent decision-making without human intervention. This enhances efficiency and minimizes the risk of errors.  According to a 2022 Gartner poll, the CIO Agenda, more than 80% of companies plan to keep or grow their investment in automation solutions.  Benefits of Digital Decisioning  Enhanced Accuracy: Digital decisioning eliminates human biases and inconsistencies, resulting in more accurate and objective decisions.  Improved Efficiency: Automation reduces decision-making time from hours or days to milliseconds, enabling organizations to respond swiftly to market changes and customer demands.  Hyper Personalization: By considering individual preferences, behaviors, and history, digital decisioning facilitates the creation of tailored experiences for customers, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement.  Scalability: The automated nature of digital decisioning ensures that it can handle a high volume of decisions seamlessly, making it ideal for businesses experiencing rapid growth.  Regulatory Compliance: Explainable decision models can be designed to incorporate regulatory guidelines and compliance requirements, reducing the risk of legal complications. Use Case: Respond faster to credit card applications and personalize cross-sell offers  Customers apply online for a credit card from a bank. As they’re being pre-qualified, digital decisioning will instantly analyze the customers’ accounts with the bank including disclosed and undisclosed cash flow. A digital decisioning software solution enables the bank to assess risk exposure and anticipate the customer’s immediate need(s), thereby automating the application assessment and approval steps to reduce approval times from weeks to minutes. Based on the bank’s comprehensive understanding of that customer at that moment, it triggers a personalized cross-sell offer for another relevant financial product, automatically boosting incremental revenue.  Conclusion Digital decisioning marks a pivotal advancement in how choices are made in business. By harnessing the power of data, analytics, and automation, organizations can make faster, more accurate decisions that are aligned with their goals and market realities. As this technology continues to evolve, it will reshape industries and empower individuals to navigate the complex digital landscape with confidence.   Experian’s decisioning management platform allows clients to operationalize the power of rich data, advanced analytics, and automated decisioning software to support the customer lifecycle. Its key differentiators include credit risk, fraud risk, and strategy expertise, fast deployment of strategies into test and production, empowerment of business users, and proactive monitoring of strategy performance by users. Its key use cases include reducing acquisition costs, credit risk, and fraud risk, and improving acceptance rate and the customer journey.  Experian has been named a Technology Leader in the August 2023 SPARK Matrix on Digital Decisioning Platforms report published by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions.  The report highlights the growth of decisioning platforms and the changing market trends that are driving adoption, including the role machine learning and AI are playing in the technology market. This placement is proof that Experian offers best-in-class capabilities through market-leading data, orchestration and automation, advanced analytical models, decision performance, and reporting. Our cloud-based infrastructure enables a scalable and modular platform that allows our solutions to be suitable for customers of all sizes.   Read the report Experian’s Decisioning Management Platform: Accelerating analytics, decisioning, and fraud detection automation Continuous improvement loop: Advanced machine learning models improve decisioning quality 

As economic uncertainty continues to loom, the threat of fraud continues to grow and is becoming more sophisticated. It’s only going to get worse. Due to intensifying inflationary pressures, prices and costs have been increasing which has led to financial hardship impacting individuals and businesses. This provides an opportunity and motive for bad actors to figure out new ways to commit fraud. Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, an increase of more than 30 percent over the previous year. PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022 shows 51% of surveyed organisations say they experienced fraud in the past two years, the highest level in their 20 years of research. Additional investments in fraud prevention technology are a priority for businesses to combat these evolving threats, according to Experian's Sept. 2022 Global Insights report, which states that 94% of businesses report it as the top priority. Since fraud is becoming more sophisticated, part of the challenge that businesses face is to constantly evaluate multiple solutions so that they can continuously improve their fraud detection and prevention capabilities. Investments that can deliver the highest ROI are the solutions that are integrated and orchestrated in a comprehensive fraud reduction intelligence platform. This gives businesses the flexibility to manage evolving strategies and mitigate threats with real-time decisioning. Experian’s CrossCore is an integrated digital identity and fraud risk platform. It offers global solutions to help protect businesses from fraud and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, using real-time risk analytics and decision-making strategies. The platform aggregates various fraud and identity verification sources to consolidate risk and trust decisions for Experian clients throughout the consumer journey.   Experian’s CrossCore has been recognized as an Overall Leader, Innovation Leader, Product Leader, and Market Leader in KuppingerCole’s Fraud Reduction Intelligence Platform Leadership Compass 2023. This recognition highlights Experian's comprehensive approach to combating fraud. It validates that CrossCore offers best-in-class capabilities by augmenting Experian’s industry-leading identity and fraud offerings with a highly curated ecosystem of partners which enables further optionality for our clients based on their specific needs.  Read the report CrossCore's Capabilities

Latest Global Insights Report: How supporting consumers in a time of uncertainty can help businesses adapt and grow A changing economic landscape needs a new approach The new digital consumer is here to stay and they expect businesses to support them with the products and services they need to navigate the rising cost of living, in a secure digital world personalised to them. Find out how: Our latest research reveals how economic uncertainty is evolving the experiences and expectations of digital consumers. From increasing the demand for credit options and financial inclusion, to deepening the need for trust, security and being seen. Read the report to find out how businesses can benefit from responding to changing consumer needs - including the additional tools and resources consumers and businesses may need to maintain financial health: What do digital consumers want? The global economy is under pressure with inflation raising prices across the world. In response, consumer behaviour is shifting, as people tackle the increased cost of living, and the prospect of an economic downturn. Digital consumers are continuing to manage their lives online and are expecting businesses to take the lead on improving the digital environment. A quality online experience is paramount, or consumers will move on. 1 in 4 businesses lost more than 10% of their customers in 2021, due to “suboptimal” digital experiences. A range of payment options including BNPL As prices rise, consumers are expecting to spend more online and are looking for varied credit options to help manage their finances. The demand for buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options is also growing, with more consumers using BNPL to buy household staples. Consumers look favourably on companies that offer BNPL, but companies will have to find the right balance between supporting customers and managing credit risk. 32% of BNPL purchases were for groceries, up from 27% in March. Financial inclusion Economic uncertainty is accelerating the need for greater financial inclusion. Businesses need to find more creditworthy consumers and support them with responsible and sustainable products and services. 1 in 3 businesses is in the process of rolling out financial inclusion initiatives Security and trust As consumer need increases, so does fraud, including cost of living scams. Security is now a top priority for consumers around the world, alongside privacy, convenience and personalisation. 50% of consumers say they’re concerned about their online transactions. However, trust in emerging customer recognition tools is increasing, with consumers’ top three including physical biometrics, PIN codes and behavioural biometrics. Personalisation Consumers who trust businesses are more willing to share their data, enabling companies to create more personalised experiences, which in turn, improves consumer trust. 46% of consumers say that personalisation (receiving offers that fit their needs) is the most important aspect of their online experience. Read our report to discover the challenges and opportunities facing consumers and businesses and the tools, resources and strategies that can help your company get ahead. The survey results represent 6,000 consumers and 2,000 businesses across 20 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Columbia, Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK, and US.   Read our report

Our latest Global Identity and Fraud Report reveals that fraud has been of high concern for consumers over the past year. In fact, more than half of consumers report that they are worried about online transactions, and 40% say that their concern has increased over this period. Data breaches, well-publicised scams, and direct first-hand experience with fraud have all contributed to these higher levels of concern. Our study shows that 77% of consumers had increased concern after experiencing online fraud, with more than half of consumers surveyed having had a close encounter with fraud: 58% of consumers say they have been a victim of online fraud, know someone who has been a victim, or both 57% of consumers say they have been a victim of identity theft, know someone who has been a victim, or both 53% of consumers say they have been a victim of account takeover, know someone who has been a victim, or both As a consequence, it makes sense that consumers rank security and privacy above convenience and personalisation when evaluating their online experience and expect businesses to take the necessary security steps to protect them online. We look at the main factors that play a role in the high levels of fraud concern among consumers and what businesses should do to address challenges in their fraud strategies. Three contributing factors to increased fraud concern among consumers Identity fraud has increased  Our research also unveils that identity theft has overtaken credit card theft as consumers’ biggest security worry across all age groups. Furthermore, a recent report from the UK showed that recorded cases of identity fraud have grown by 22% over the past year. Fraud prevention and security professionals have been trying to educate consumers for a long time on this topic. Stealing identity data and using it in multiple fraud schemes can be significantly more harmful than criminals having access to someone's credit card numbers, where transactions can be traced quickly and revoked or charged back. While many factors contributed to an increase in concern about identity theft, the most impactful over the past two years were the numerous cases of unemployment and benefits fraud. Multiple countries reported cases where criminals applied for loans in the name of genuine consumers or through synthetic identities, created by combining real stolen information with fake data. The cost of these scams is yet to be discovered, and it could take years to see their full effect, with fraud losses well into the billions (if not trillions) of dollars worldwide. Criminals can access stolen data and fraud tutorials beyond the dark web To commit many types of fraud, criminals need Personal Identifiable Information (PII) that is stolen through techniques such as hacking attacks, credential harvesting, credential stuffing, phishing, or other types of social engineering. For years the knowledge of how to do that, along with the stolen data available after a successful attack, was available mainly on cybercriminal forums accessed through the dark web. However, over the past year, it has become easier than ever to obtain not only PII data but also valuable information on how to bypass some of the security and fraud features in place for a certain institution. Criminals no longer need to go to the dark web to do that - it's available on platforms like Telegram, just a few clicks away, where other fraudsters are selling tutorials (often called 'Sauce') on how to commit fraud, as well as PII data (called 'Fullz') to achieve it. As a result, the entry level for those that want to commit fraud has been set lower than ever before - both in terms of skillset and accessibility. Phishing and scams are at all-time high Another contributing factor to the increase in consumer concern is the number of scams resulting in authorised push payment fraud, which totalled £583.2 million in the UK alone during 2021. Criminals continue to seek out consumer vulnerabilities and use a variety of tactics to apply pressure on their victims and convince them to transfer money out of their bank accounts. This could take many forms - from various types of impersonation scams, romance scams, and investment (fraud) opportunities, to scams related to utility bills and easy loan offers among other types. This wouldn't be possible without numerous phishing/smishing/vishing attempts and the amount of data available through data breaches. One other factor that helps criminals is the direct access to potential victims given by social media and the sheer volume of personal information available in the public domain. These types of scams sometimes get high publicity (and rightly so) which can also contribute to the increased level of concern among the public while also applying additional pressure on financial institutions to improve their fraud screening and transaction monitoring capabilities to protect consumers. How businesses can improve fraud screening capabilities and increase consumer trust To restore consumer trust, businesses need to look for ways to improve their capabilities both at account opening and login to prevent criminals from gaining easy access to their services. There are multiple ways to do that, from introducing online identity document verification or phone-centric identity verification capabilities at the account opening stage, to adding behavioural biometrics, device intelligence, or fraud data sharing capabilities during different stages of the customer journey. By introducing some of these capabilities businesses also can improve the digital customer journey for genuine consumers and increase trust. Online identity document verification and phone-centric identity verification solutions both offer pre-fill capabilities. These tools can streamline registration processes and thus contribute greatly to a positive consumer outlook of the company that offers them. While behavioural biometrics, device intelligence, and fraud data sharing tools are invisible to both fraudsters and genuine consumers creating a more frictionless experience. Businesses should look carefully at the fraud they are experiencing along with fraud trends shared by similar businesses. This should help inform whether to introduce new capabilities as part of the existing strategy. It's common that companies might need a mix of capabilities to mitigate fraud issues, with additional support from machine learning models to blend them into one cohesive output while limiting the number of false positives and building consumer trust. Stay in the know with our latest research and insights:

It's hard to imagine an individual customer volunteering to remember multiple online passwords for various online accounts. Yet, for most of internet history, passwords have served as the backbone of online security and recognition—and given fraudsters easier access to our personal and financial data. Fortunately, our recent report reveals that consumers and businesses are evolving how they think about online recognition and authentication. Passwords are no longer consumers' preferred method of online security. For the second year, they didn't even make the top three list of what consumers consider the safest recognition methods. Instead, consumers are increasingly open to a variety of recognition tools, from physical and behavioral biometrics to one-time passcodes. By providing recognition choices, companies can improve the customer experience, decrease fraud, and ultimately build even more brand trust. Consumers are moving beyond passwords, but what should come next? Around the world, consumer fraud concern is rising in tandem with fraud activity. More than half of consumers report that they're worried about fraudulent online transactions, and 40% say that their concern has grown over the past year. That's likely because online fraud has become a far too common experience. For instance, 58% of consumers say that they've been a victim of fraud or know someone who has been a victim, and 83% of consumers say online security is their top priority. The awareness has made consumers more interested—and more confident in—emerging online recognition tools. It seems that many are not only tired of passwords but also understand how easily passwords can be compromised. Those surveyed ranked physical biometrics, pin codes delivered to a mobile device, and behavioral biometrics as the safest recognition methods. Notably, consumer confidence in each of the top three methods has increased significantly since 2021. This confidence in advanced recognition tools spans generations. For instance, 90% of Baby Boomers rank physical biometrics as the most secure, and 82% of Gen Xers and 75% of Gen Z say the same. Meanwhile, 81% of Millennials say behavioral biometrics are the most secure. These survey results suggest that most consumers are aware of fraud risk and willing to explore technologies that make their online transactions safer. Why recognition choice leads to better business outcomes Amidst this environment of change, financial service companies have the opportunity to introduce advanced recognition methods. Consumers are showing their willingness to move beyond passwords. But which recognition method should financial service companies choose? Which one will win out over the others? There's no one right answer. Consumers rank physical biometrics, pin codes, and behavioral biometrics as their top three preferences; however, there is no runaway leader in the group. Which method consumers prefer depends on what they're prioritizing. For instance, consumers who want convenience prefer physical biometrics, while people who value security tend to like two-factor authentication. The ambiguity around preferences allows businesses to introduce choice to their customers. Companies can offer visible methods that give customers access to the newer recognition tools they're beginning to prefer. Meanwhile, continuing to layer invisible methods that strengthen the overall security profile and enhance the customer experience. A menu of recognition options speaks to customer sentiments toward emerging technologies and may engender more trust and loyalty to a brand. For example, our 2022 research shows that 59% of consumers say that use of artificial intelligence increases their trust in a company. The key is being transparent about the choiceson offer and the role they play in protecting customer accounts and data. For example, explaining that the data underpinning specific authentication methods never leaves the device can go a long way with customers who may have misguided assumptions or reservations about specific recognition tools. The orchestration imperative Implementing choice can help customers improve the perception—and reality—of their online security. But leveraging multiple recognition options can also help organizations to better fight fraud. Multiple options enhance understanding of the customer and enables data analysis that can more easily identify outliers. The numerous data points strengthen recognition efforts, which further reinforces trust. It's a virtuous cycle that improves the customer experience and benefits the business. However, implementing multiple recognition methods can be a costly endeavor. Whether using outside vendors or developing and maintaining tools in-house, businesses should be layering recognition tools in the most efficient (and affordable) way. This is where orchestration tools really help. Creating secure environments for customers and businesses will continue to be complicated. Fraudsters are only getting more creative, and mitigating their impact requires a complex web of solutions that stymies them at various points. By starting with an orchestration engine, businesses can launch and manage multiple recognition methods more elegantly, using each tool correctly and at the right point in the customer journey. This strategic approach creates a single point of access to fraud and identity solutions, giving a 360-degree view of customer identity and reducing friction across the customer lifecycle. The days of passwords as the primary recognition tool are waning. Today's consumers understand the benefit of advanced recognition methods and will use them to increase their security, convenience and privacy. Offer customers choices, and businesses can meet these evolving expectations and decrease fraud risk along the way. 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Insights from the 2022 Global Identity & Fraud report Building digital consumer trust amidst rising fraud activity and concerns The survey underpinning the insights in our 2022 Global Identity & Fraud report encompasses 1,849 business respondents and 6,062 consumers from 20 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK, and US. We’ve also included interviews with consumers from Brazil, Germany, the UK, and US.    Insights from the video: The emergence of a digitally savvy consumer with a heightened awareness of fraud, and trusts brands to protect them online Consumers expect to increase their online activity in the next 3 months Consumers have higher expectations of the online experience Businesses are investing in multiple digital initiatives to meet consumer expectations, but the fraud risk persists More than half of consumers surveyed globally have been a victim of fraud or know someone who has 70% of businesses say their concern about fraud has increased since last year Only 30% of consumers are confident that businesses will recognise them repeatedly online, even though 84% of businesses say recognising customers is very or extremely important Consumers rank security as the top factor in their online experience and are actively seeking out businesses to provide it Read the report to discover 5 tips on how to increase the value of your customer's experience and reduce fraud risk   Stay in the know with our latest research and insights: