The Irreversible Shift To Digital And Its Consequences For The Future

In an ever-more competitive digital economy, brands in all sectors will be tasked to work harder and invest more to attract and engage customers — both existing and new.”

Biometrics and other sophisticated forms of identity verification are making a dent in cybercrime. Those tools are proving invaluable as business shifts to remote digital onboarding and wholly new definitions of trust. “Real-time identity verification plays a crucial role in meeting customer demands for both security and speed when signing up for a new account,” said Zac Cohen, chief operating officer at Trulioo. “Those businesses that can onboard people in an optimized way will set themselves up to build strong relationships with their customers that will last a long time after COVID-19 passes.”

The following is an excerpt from How 35 Execs Are Powering The Great Digital Shift Of 2020 (And Beyond), contributed by Zac Cohen, chief operating officer at Trulioo.

The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the world from “digital-first” to “digital-only” almost overnight, as people have reoriented all aspects of their lives, from work and shopping to socializing and leisure. In doing so, it has underlined how critical it is for businesses to stay ahead of the digital transformation curve.

One of the overarching traits of those brands that have managed to escape this crisis with both credibility and cash reserves intact is the ability to embrace innovation, and to prioritize customer experiences and build more personal, engaging and positive customer relationships.

As consumers, we have become accustomed to overnight delivery, click-and-collect services and online ordering from places that would otherwise have been in-location only, like boutique retailers and restaurants. All of this means the benchmark has been raised significantly — and in the post-pandemic world, businesses cannot afford to deliver anything less than a first-class digital experience for customers, which is both fast and secure.

But looking forward, eCommerce businesses now have an immense opportunity to win the customer experience by enhancing the account creation process. The directive is clear: Deliver an outstanding experience and protect customers at all times on all applications. This means collecting only necessary data and managing it in a secure and compliant way, guarding against identity theft.

Although we are still in the early stages of biometric-based identity proofing and authentication, it is this development that will make or break whether businesses hit this objective or not. This is because organizations will want to ensure that they have access to the broadest possible network with the most appropriate identity data points, based on the level of risk associated with the transaction or activity. These data points will include personal identification information, documents, bank information, behavioral patterns, fraud data, biometrics and more. This breadth and depth of information within a trusted and secure identity network will become the holy grail for companies as they optimize their identity assurance, customer experience and service delivery.

In an ever-more competitive digital economy, brands in all sectors will be tasked to work harder and invest more to attract and engage customers — both existing and new. Consumers want security when they’re providing their identity data online, but don’t believe that this protection should come at the expense of a first-rate customer experience. Real-time identity verification plays a crucial role in meeting customer demands for both security and speed when signing up for a new account. Those businesses that can onboard people in an optimized way will set themselves up to build strong relationships with their customers that will last a long time after COVID-19 passes.