NEW REPORT: The Case For A Digital DNA

Cybercrime is on the rise, and companies in several different verticals are stepping up authentication protocols in hopes of successfully thwarting fraudulent attempts.

But in the rush to ward off bad actors, many are doing so at the risk of alienating legitimate customers, leading to abandonment of online purchases and leaving companies without a sale. To address this, a growing number of businesses are turning to solutions that gauge a customer’s individual behavior, rather than relying solely on data from KYC and AML procedures.

In the March Digital Identity Tracker, PYMNTS looks at how new identity verification solutions are transforming authentication processes, and adding new efficiencies in a range of industries, including transportation, healthcare and government identification.

Notable Digital ID News

Whether traveling by land or air, passengers are increasingly more likely to encounter biometric solutions along their journey.

For air-bound travelers, facial recognition is being put to the test on British Airways flights between Orlando International Airport and London Gatwick Airport. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and IT solutions provider SITA are testing a facial recognition system designed to allow passengers to board planes without sharing a passport or a boarding pass. The program is intended to help passengers board faster by enabling airport officials to verify traveler information more quickly.

Train travel in Sweden is also getting an upgrade, thanks to biometric tools. Swedish rail company SJ announced it is now allowing riders to implant microchips into their hands that use near-field communication (NFC) technology to connect with a smartphone and pay for train fare. Conductors will be able to scan travelers’ chipped hands to get a reference code in place of a ticket.

Beyond solutions aiming to improve travel, other identity verification solution providers are hoping to change how governments address their respective national identification systems.

In India, for example, a new app called Yoti is designed to digitize identification forms, like passports, as part of an effort to allow users to verify their identities both online and in person. App users can create a profile by taking a selfie and scanning their passport with their smartphone.

And elsewhere in Asia, Tencent’s CEO Pony Ma Huateng recently proposed a new identification system for residents of the “Greater Bay Area,” including Hong Kong, Macau and the Guangdong province. With the new system in place, Ma said residents of these areas should be able to sync their travel permits to mainland China to their smartphones, enabling them to make mobile payments.

Building Smarter Digital Profiles to Build Trust

With 160,000 global incidents reported, 2017 officially holds the dubious distinction as the worst year on record for cyberattacks. And as the threat of digital fraud continues to grow, more companies are turning to KYC solutions to determine which partners are trustworthy.

But these systems, argued Jose Caldera, chief product officer for digital identity solution provider IdentityMind, present an incomplete picture of customer trustworthiness. Instead, Caldera said it makes more sense to understand an individual’s risks and trustworthiness by establishing an informed profile of their specific behavior. In the March feature story, Caldera speaks with PYMNTS about how the company uses a database of “electronic DNA” profiles to help banks and companies better understand a user’s long-term behavioral patterns.

About the Tracker

The Digital Identity Tracker is a forum for framing and addressing key issues and trends facing the entities charged with efficiently and securely identifying and granting permission to individuals to access, purchase, transact or otherwise confirm their identities.