As we approach 2025, retailers, digital platforms, and service providers are not just competing on price, product quality, or availability.
They are competing on experience.
The equation is simple: the brand that offers the best experience wins.
Increasingly, this is a digital priority as consumers turn to online platforms to engage and spend time with their favorite brands. In the process, brands are trying to manage the delicate balance of convenience and security, starting from account creation and extending through purchase completion.
This is easier said than done.
Surging fraud requires companies to be more vigilant and secure than ever before. GBG IDology’s latest fraud report shows that more than half of companies reported an increase in fraud across their mobile, online, and contact center channels.
That’s why, to win the battle for CX, brands must also win and be best at security, combining both without compromise.
Here are three ways brands can rethink onboarding security for better CX which ultimately drives more revenue and impacts the bottom line.
#1 Make Onboarding Quick (but Secure)
Balancing CX and security starts when consumers create their accounts.
GBG IDology’s research found a meaningful discrepancy between brand priorities and customer expectations. Specifically, 57 percent of businesses believe that a quick and easy onboarding process is most important to consumers. However, consumer research shows that, while they expect a seamless onboarding process, 68 percent place a higher value on security.
In other words, while brands often have good intentions (and CX expectations) when simplifying the onboarding process, consumers are giving them latitude to place more emphasis on security.
It also puts digital identity verification and CX curation at the forefront of the customer onboarding process.
That’s why 65 percent of business leaders say identity verification is a strategic differentiator, allowing them to outpace the competition by achieving fast, seamless onboarding without compromising security.
#2 Recognize and Adapt to the Latest Trends
Customer expectations are constantly changing, and fraudsters are evolving their tactics at the same time.
This trend is amplified and accelerated by the emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). This technology, which enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities, also enables new forms of fraud, including synthetic identity fraud (SIF) and phishing scams.
SIF happens when a bad actor combines snippets of real personal information, like names, addresses, and social security numbers from various sources, to create a new synthetic identity that allows them to navigate some identity verification and security measures.
This year, 51 percent of companies report that SIF has either increased or stayed the same, and nearly three-quarters of brand leaders are worried about Gen AI’s potential to increase SIF moving forward.
Meanwhile, phishing scams, which trick email or text message recipients with authentic-looking messaging, can result in unsuspecting customers handing over their account information to fraudsters.
Gen AI text can be used to craft highly convincing phishing emails and SMS messages that mimic the writing style of trusted individuals or organizations. This makes them far more likely to succeed in convincing recipients to disclose sensitive information.
The technology also accelerates the scope and scale of phishing attacks. While bad actors once had to craft phishing messages by hand, Gen AI allows them to automate the creation and improve the content of phishing scams.
In both cases, once threat actors bypass a brand’s security measures, detecting their actions can often be difficult until it’s too late.
Gen AI poses a threat to businesses as it allows fraudsters to easily fabricate realistic and hard-to-detect fake identities and documentation that can be used to carry out fraudulent activities.
Consequently, business leaders say that Gen AI and Machine Learning (ML) are the two biggest trends in identity verification in the years ahead.
#3 Account for the OmniChannel Equation
CX is increasingly contingent on omnichannel consistency and integration. This requires brands to break down silos between departments, invest in integrated technology solutions, and maintain a consistent brand voice and message across all touchpoints.
It also requires an omnichannel fraud detection and deterrence strategy.
Notably, while mobile and online channels are top fraud targets, brands must maintain an omnichannel view of fraud prevention.
For example, as mobile transactions and online interactions become more prevalent, so do opportunities for digital fraud. With 70 percent of companies saying they will continue or increase their investments in mobile in the next year, the risk of mobile-related fraud increases.
Simply put, fraud is increasingly an omnichannel threat, requiring brands to account for the multifaceted vulnerabilities created by their omnichannel CX initiatives.
The Bottom Line
Fraud is expensive for companies and customers.
One analysis found that businesses lose five percent of their revenue to fraud annually, accounting for millions in yearly losses. In total, fraud costs businesses and consumers more than $300 billion annually.
The long-term consequences include a diminished customer experience, reputational damage, eroded customer trust, critical brand attributes that are hard-earned and easily lost.
On the flipside, companies that are relentlessly proactive about mitigating the risk of fraud by practicing secure processes front and center within the customer experience, will build trust and drive revenue. Streamlining CX is an operational imperative, and providing secure onboarding is the first step. It’s a critical priority with bottom-line impacting opportunities for every brand and business.