By Pete Rizzo, Editor (@pete_rizzo_)
There’s a reason 54 percent of global consumers prefer speaking directly to a customer service representative, even for simple inquiries. Humans trust other humans. They can sympathize with our difficulties, respond dynamically to our concerns and provide us with a feeling of security that robotic virtual assistants do not.
Still, with personal interactions becoming more common in online environments like live chat, consumers may be all too trusting when passing card data through a chat client. In most cases, this transaction process isn’t PCI compliant, since solutions designed specifically for live chat payment acceptance don’t exist.
Well, at least they didn’t.
Enter AliveSecure, the first patent-pending online chat solution in the online payments industry. The product of a forward-thinking collaboration by Ridgeland, Mississippi-based payment fraud specialist SecureBuy, Texas-headquartered online communications provider WebsiteAlive and global website security leader SiteLock, AliveSecure promises to reinvent online chat so that eCommerce merchants can access a host of previously unavailable security features while delivering the kind of high-touch customer service that drives sales online.
“Now online businesses have a compliant, secure means in which to process payments, pass secure financial information, protect their customers and take eCommerce conversion to a whole new level,” Greg Wooten, SecureBuy’s CEO, told PYMNTS.com.
For an overview of AliveSecure’s features and benefits and a detailed look at how the project came to be, PYMNTS.com spoke to Wooten and Adam J. Stass, CEO and managing partner at WebsiteAlive.
How AliveSecure Works
SecureBuy, WebsiteAlive and SiteLock created AliveSecure by combining multiple patented and patent-pending technologies. The result was a “new version of chat” built on four elements that included familiar functions such as online chat and click-to-call, as well as new features for enhanced security.
AliveSecure’s secret sauce is “its ability to encrypt censored information, personal information like attorney privileged information, medical records and remain in HIPAA and PCI compliance,” said Wooten. “Incorporating a shopping cart within the AliveSecure solution provides the ability to process credit and debit card transactions,” which makes for a more frictionless environment.
SecureBuy’s core product enhances AliveSecure in a way that “fully automates the fraud prevention space” by incorporating full disclosure, biometric signature capture and risk-based payer authentication, among other features.
How AliveSecure Benefits Online Merchants
While Wooten discussed the ideas behind AliveSecure, Stass focused on the benefits he believes merchants will be able to obtain by adding the solution to their sites. Stass indicated that AliveSecure will allow anyone with an eCommerce site to obtain “a faster, safer way to make purchases in real time.”
“The bottom line is we’ve always been known to spike the needle in our space but AliveSecure allows us to really disrupt the online commerce world,” Wooten said in an interview.
Wooten went on to indicate that AliveSecure would have ramifications beyond the eCommerce industry, saying that it would bring “true value” to the payments ecosystem.
The Future For AliveSecure
Recent studies suggest AliveSecure is making an entrance into the market at a time when its industry-first solution will serve a need for both consumers and merchants. Internet Retailer has noted that live chat use is increasingly popular with U.S. consumers. For example, in 2011, 58 percent of U.S. consumers reported that they interacted with an online merchant through live chat.
Additional studies have found that live chat initiatives can increase order sizes and customer retention rates, meaning merchants who adopt the technology will have even more incentive to keep these transactions secure.
For more on AliveSecure and its potential effect on the eCommerce market, listen to our full podcast with Wooten and Stass here.
*If you have trouble with the audio player above, click here.
Greg WootenӬ
Chief Executive Officer, SecureBuy
SecureBuy CEO Greg Wooten is an eCommerce industry pioneer and a recognized authority on eCommerce fraud and Cybershoplifting. Mr. Wooten, who joined SecureBuy in 2012 and simultaneously helms SecureBuy and payment processing leader USDT Corporation, has spent over three decades as an executive at Fortune 500 corporations and private firms in the emerging technologies and financial services industries. A frequent speaker on the topics of business automation, payment processing, eCommerce and payment fraud prevention for such companies and organizations as AT&T, CNP Expo, Magento Inc., Nielson Media, US Financial Services Group, USDT Corporation and the Direct Marketing Association, Mr. Wooten remains dedicated to the fight against eCommerce fraud in all its forms. Additionally Mr. Wooten is a member of the Electronic Transactions Association 2013 – Industry Relations Committee.
Adam J. Stass
Managing Partner and CEO of WebsiteAlive®
Adam J. Stass is Managing Partner and CEO of WebsiteAlive®, a fast and forward thinking software developer and online communications provider, dedicated to developing the most flexible and agile innovations delivered in a straightforward and streamlined approach. Since 2007, WebsiteAlive’s feature-rich, industry-leading, and award-winning Live Chat and Click-To-Call solutions — AliveChat™ and AliveDial™ — are being used and trusted by more than 11,000 web and mobile sites, to meet and greet website visitors, answer questions, increase leads and close sales. Adam is responsible for day-to-day operations as well as new business, product development and spreading the word on all things related to the company and its brands. His background includes the successful launch of 720, a company known for its consumer brand building and concept development services. The company’s success is evidenced by its impressive list of clients, including Valvoline, Coca Cola, Scunci/CONAIR, Denman International, Timex, Avecia and other Fortune 500 companies. 720 also co-founded “Brand DNA” which is now used worldwide. Adam has taken his past knowledge and adapted it to the world of live interaction.
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