KNOW Forum Recap: What’s Next for Identity and Address Verification?

On June 2nd, Urjanet, Equifax, and Hello Soda took part in a panel on alternative data during the KNOW forum on digital identity. It was a lively discussion that highlighted the changing economic and business dynamics that are driving the need for more innovative use of alternative data sources. Across the fintech and eCommerce industries, alternative data helps organizations minimize risk, expand their market, and enhance visibility into new applicants. 

If you missed the session, you can watch it here, or read on to check out some of the key takeaways.

1. Customer onboarding goes digital

Customer onboarding is key to remaining competitive, and with COVID-19 changing the way companies do business, face-to-face interactions have turned digital. To simplify the onboarding process, consumers are becoming more comfortable with providing access to their personal account data, including their utility and telecom accounts. 

“With the rise of open banking…it’s really making more and more people confident to connect a social profile or a utility account to quickly onboard themselves,” stated Pamela McLoughlin, Head of Strategy at Hello Soda, at the KNOW forum. This digital approach also opens the door to better access to credit by incorporating utility payment histories into risk assessments. 

“With the rise of open banking…it’s really making more and more people confident to connect a social profile or a utility account to quickly onboard themselves.”

2. Fraud prevention should be multi-layered 

Over the past few months, the pandemic has significantly impacted consumers and businesses around the world. The uncertain economic climate and ongoing business recovery will likely lead to increased use of alternative data alongside traditional credit data in the long run. 

 

Explore Equifax’s COVID-19 Resource Center

 

Alternative data can supplement traditional data and help build a more robust identity profile for your customers, helping to mitigate fraud risk. “When you look at fraud and identity solutions, there are often layers. You need more than one data type and data point,” said Equifax VP of Alternative Data Mike Pecen at the KNOW forum. “Alternative data for the fraud use case only enhances the ability, assuming it’s from an authoritative source like Urjanet, to determine if the actual entity is who they say they are.” 

“When you look at fraud and identity solutions, there are often layers. You need more than one data type and data point.”

Given the exponential growth of digital transactions, a multi-layered approach to fraud prevention is critical for the future. “From a fraud and identity perspective, now we have a more robust profile overall to make a decision or help our clients make decisions. I see them [traditional credit data and alternative data] working together,” continued Pecen.   

3. Alternative data sources are becoming the new normal

Consumer-permissioned access to data is steadily becoming the new normal. During the KNOW forum, Erik Becker, SVP of Corporate Development at Urjanet, explained the appeal of alternative data sources. “Anything that is putting the consumer more in control of their own data with transparency is the way things are going to be done in the future. The Urjanet platform was built that way.” With rising consumer concerns over data privacy and control, collecting consent provides transparency. Regulations like GDPR and CCPA are also driving the growth of consumer consent models. 

“Anything that is putting the consumer more in control of their own data with transparency is the way things are going to be done in the future.”

Consider utility payments as an alternative data source

On-demand access to consumer-permissioned data is the way of the future. Check out Urjanet’s 5-minute video demonstration to see how easy it is to link your customers’ utility accounts and retrieve authoritative data in minutes.

Speak to an expert to learn more about Utility Data for Identity Verification and the next level of alternative data access. 

 

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:

• The Future of Standardized Identity Verification
• How Consumer-Permissioned Data Is Reshaping Online Lending
• Who’s Who? Identity Verification in a Digital World

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