The pandemic put the world in its place. People were locked in and quickly bonded with technology as a get-away and a medium to access financial services. Now that we are returning to our “new normal,” there is a more critical requirement to create channels between yesteryear’s’ ‘in-person’ modes with new remote sources. One place you can witness this fact is the need to open a new account, businesses and consumers alike. They apply for loans, make payments using online applications and banking channels.
Online banking is on the rise, but it still has to build the same trust level that in-person services enjoy. Consumers need to trust online banking channels for safe transactions and provide accurate information. On the other hand, banks need to ascertain that their new and existing customers on online channels are indeed them. They must fulfill the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process following local laws to ensure the person is not a bot or fraud. Such identity verification technology and procedures are quickly becoming vital for banks and organizations during the customer on-boarding process.
Let’s find out some new trends around the world that show how crucial identity verification technology is.
Banks and organizations, who adopted identity verification at the beginning, are best-placed right now.
The pandemic made social distancing a new thing, and everybody had to adapt to these changes. And financial institutions that adopted identity verification during its nascent stages are the ones that flourished during these testing times. They offered work-from-home facilities to their employees and provided successful online financial services. The current situation asks these organizations to invest and upgrades their digital onboarding medium as soon as possible. While the rest of the world acknowledges the necessity of identity verification, these companies will be way ahead, offering top-notch services to their customers.
The pandemic meant more people are transacting online. It meant more cyber-attacks and frauds
The overall number of online transactions significantly went up during the pandemic last year, and it will only go up in the future. And like us, fraudsters know this fact, so they chose this moment of chaos to dupe individuals and organizations into scams. One such incident that the financial sector witnessed was the surge in lending fraud attacks in unsecured lending areas. When WHO declared a worldwide pandemic, these attacks turned into successful first-party and third-party frauds. To curb these attacks, companies like iDenfy are working day and night to develop highly accurate identity verification technology. Learn more.
Digital identity is becoming a vital part of financial, government, and healthcare services
Digital identification and verification are not just proving essential for the financial sector, but healthcare providers and governments are using them as well. There are reports about digital “immunity passports” to pace up economic and social recovery after the coronavirus. If the concept flies, people will soon verify their identity digitally to ascertain their vaccination status.
Post-Coronavirus society requires service providers to provide financial and medical relief fast. And this requires a powerful medium that works without face-to-face interaction. Virtual identification will also reduce the chances of fraudulent use of personal data, this is a key tenet of new legislation being written to implement digital identification in online services in a more general manner. This is something you can learn more about if you read Truvity’s reference guide covering all the basics of eIDAS 2.0, as this is one of the more prominent sets of laws for enhancing data security, privacy and identification of people and businesses online.
The benefits of online identity verification are more than ever
Companies have been using identity verification to comply with KYC laws and prevent fraud risks during customer onboarding. According to a survey, 85% of financial institutions have provided at least one kind of digital accounting. Organizations have invested and used digital identity verification to some extent. But the pandemic made them realize the need to digitize their services for current and future customers completely.
Conclusion
There is no denying the capabilities of digital identity verification. And companies have invested in technology for a long time now. But the current economic and social situation has pushed them towards completely accept it. It is another step in building trust between the bank and its customers and ensuring secure online transactions.