Every day we rapidly shift online, from personal to professional elements of our lives. While this comes with various benefits, it also brings the increased risk of fraud and cybercrime into the equation. From phishing attacks to data breaches or identity thefts to synthetic identities, the internet is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to be. Technology developments haven’t benefited only us, as cybercriminals constantly use it to update their malicious activities and make them more sophisticated and harder to detect. To stay ahead of them, online safety needs to become the priority, and what better way to utilize it than by using the cornerstone of online security?
Digitalization is part of our lives; more and more companies are transferring their business operations online, and more customers are choosing to access their services online rather than in person, as Reach First explained. While this makes it easier for businesses and customers, it also makes it more dangerous. How can you know your customers or remote employees are who they claim to be if you don’t see them in person? This is where digital onboarding comes in.
Digital onboarding is adaptable, and its requirement change depending on which industry it is utilized in. Still, the common element is that it is used to protect businesses and customers from different types of fraudulent behavior.
For example, in financial institutions, it can be used to quickly verify users’ identities to allow them to open an account or apply for a loan through the website or mobile app. At the same time, for the HR department, it can mean a way of confirming details provided by applicants to ensure they are who they claim to be. Even eCommerce sites are using it to minimize the risk of account takeover, identity theft, and other types of eCommerce fraud.
What are the benefits of building online security at every level?
Digital onboarding is making big waves in various industries as it can be adapted to benefit all the different sectors and requirements. The main benefits through all the industries are:
Increase in customer satisfaction: Customers don’t want to go through a long process just to be able to access a service or purchase a product. This can provide them with a fast and smooth operation, resulting in happier customers.
Reduced number of abandoned carts or customers leaving before accessing the service: Because digital onboarding can be conducted in real-time, the customers can access the services instantly, which means they have no reason to look at your competitors.
Increased customer loyalty: If your customers are happy with the service, they will stay with you instead of going to your competitors.
Cost and time efficiency savings: Protection methods can save not only money but also the time as the process is faster, and demands less manual labor while reducing the paperwork and element of human error.
Gathers more information about users: Data about users is collected during the process, giving businesses a clearer picture about the users and allowing them to improve their services accordingly.
Increases online security: Gathering user information helps to determine their intention more quickly and prevents fraudulent activities before they even happen.
How can you flag potential risky customers, and how can that data be used for cybersecurity?
According to SEON, we gather various data about our users during the digital onboarding process, and all of this information can be used for fraud prevention. From device information, their IP, email, and physical address to phone number or payment information, all of this data helps create a better idea of who your users are. Not only can you use this information to more easily determine if they are legitimate users or fraudsters, but it also indicates what their intention is towards your business. This allows you to react on time and prevent any malicious activity before it even happens.
With digital onboarding, all of this information is collected instantly in the background without creating any user friction while ensuring you have all the data you need to make informed decisions. Gathering all of this information is also necessary to create an environment of trust between the user and the business, creating smoother interaction.
It also reduces the risk of dealing with someone using a stolen or synthetic ID or even ensures that you are not dealing with a bot. Thomson Reuters claims there is no sure way to determine how much is lost to synthetic ID fraud yearly as it can be hard to detect, but it is estimated that it ranges from $6 to $20 billion. Usually, it either doesn’t get detected or goes unreported, with financial institutions writing it off as a credit loss. It can significantly minimize these risks, which is why it should become a part of the cybersecurity strategy for any business that interacts with its customers online.
Unfortunately, cyberattacks have become a part of our reality, which is why every business needs to start taking a proactive approach towards online security and utilize any necessary tools to help with that. As a cornerstone of online security, digital onboarding is a perfect tool for any business on which the rest of the cybersecurity strategy can be built upon.
