Here at Caf we just finished up the first round of sessions for our ongoing web series, The Great Identity Debate. The series ran for five weeks and featured speakers from some of the top digital brands globally, including Visa, Linkedin, Nubank, Square, StockX and many more.
Here’s just a small sample of some of the top themes that were discussed.
The Future of Digital Identity
The current and future course of how we manage digital identity was a key concept discussed throughout the Great Identity Debate.
As digital identity continues to evolve, the important thing to keep in mind is the customer experience. A new way of proving identity may be less costly, or feature innovative new technology, but unless it provides value and incentivizes consumers to adopt it, it likely will not be successful.
How the evolution of digital identity helps to power new product innovation was another topic tackled by the panel. In the near future, biometrics or other technology could be used to make the airport travel experience even more digital and seamless. Digital identity methods could also be involved in voting. The key in any new identity product or service is ensuring a smooth customer experience while also having the proper protocols in place to mitigate fraud and cybercrime.
The Importance of KYC and KYB
Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols are vitally important for businesses to get right. Having good KYC means seamless onboarding of customers while also rooting out fraud. Yet, KYC compliance is often a burden for businesses and the law-abiding consumers that have to submit documentation to meet these laws. KYC is complicated, and businesses often suffer from inefficient processes around it. Organizations can waste a lot of money and countless internal resources and man-hours with inefficient KYC processes.
It’s also important not to overlook Know Your Business (KYB) as well. While KYB has historically been seen as an extension of KYC – and the two have many similarities – it is emerging as its own discipline. That’s because companies that have customers that are businesses themselves must do more complex diligence in vetting them.
Unlike KYC, KYB is more complicated in that you are vetting entire businesses rather than an individual. It is, therefore, vital that companies make their clients fully aware of the process and expectations for a smoother KYB process.
In some instances, companies can complete KYB with a single document such as license or registration certificate and fully onboard the business entity in compliance with the local regulations. But these are exceptions rather than the rule. It behooves the companies to complete KYB upfront so that there are no surprises down the line. Do it once and do it right, suggest the experts.
Fighting Fraud
Fraudsters are a sophisticated bunch, constantly revising and updating their tactics to combat the latest defense mechanisms put in place to stop them. That’s why businesses need to be vigilant to always stay one step ahead in this perpetual cat-and-mouse game.
Throughout the Great Identity Debate, we heard real world examples from prominent companies about the tactics and technology they used to successfully stop fraud, as well as some interesting tales from the “front lines” of fighting fraud.
AI plays a prominent role in this fight; while AI can be used to detect fraudulent or suspicious patterns of activity, fraudsters in turn also deploy AI to help hide their activity and blend in with good traffic. Our panelists also discussed how businesses can toe the fine line between creating a quick and seamless user experience, while also having the proper safeguards in place to detect and stop fraud.
Conclusion
It was an informative and fast-paced five weeks of the Great Identity Debate, but don’t worry; it’s not ending just yet. We’re merely taking a break, and will return in the coming months with brand new panels covering many different aspects of digital identity.
And if you missed any of the previous sessions, you can watch them all on demand here.
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