Digital transactions and online activity continue to grow exponentially, but so too have the number of scams and victims of fraud. How are digital consumers increasing their risk of fraud, and which solutions do they prefer the most?
The first Customer Identity Trends Report from US-based identity and access management company Okta has revealed that the average digital customer has more than 20 active accounts for applications and websites. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of consumers have 10 or more active accounts.
The consequences of having so many active accounts, paired with a wide range of inactive and sometimes forgotten accounts, are being seen. The more accounts each user has, the greater chance of exposure to data breaches – especially when those accounts are protected with a traditional username and password, or forgotten or not maintained over time.
The study asked more than 20,000 consumers spread across 14 countries including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Japan about their online experiences and attitudes to digital identity.
Passwords: A source of friction and frustration
Friction is the primary reason behind most decisions to abandon checkout when shopping online. This is supported by the recent Okta report, as 60 per cent of consumers globally said they would be more likely to spend money when services offered a simple, secure, and frictionless login process.
According to the survey, passwords are a major source of friction. Sixty-five per cent of consumers feel overwhelmed by the number of usernames and passwords they have to manage, and 33 per cent find creating passwords that meet certain requirements frustrating. Another 64 per cent reported that they’re unable to log in to an account at least once a month because of a forgotten username or password.
Shiven Ramji, chief product officer of customer Identity at Okta, commented: “Finding the right balance between privacy, friction and user experience can be a challenge.
“Businesses need to assess their own environment and create a user experience that establishes trust and provides necessary security controls that protect a user’s sensitive information and combat fraud.
“It is not a one size fits all approach, but requires a strategic approach to identity, and ultimately, a no-compromise approach to security, privacy and user experience.”
Consumers ‘want frictionless, personalised, and instantaneous experiences’
Data privacy is a priority for the modern consumer. Seventy-five per cent of respondents across all age groups reported it is important to them to have control over their data. When consumers interact with highly regulated industries, such as financial services (86 per cent), healthcare (83 per cent), and public sector organisations (81 per cent), the importance of control over their data rises.
Ramji also said: “Customers want frictionless, personalised, and instantaneous experiences when logging in to apps and making purchases; at the same time, they want to control what data they share, and they want appropriate security controls in place to protect it.
“Given the strong competition for customer attention, brands that want to build long-term relationships with customers must be transparent about what data is needed and how it’s used to power a private, secure, and convenient experience. That is the basic requirement from consumers and something that shouldn’t be compromised.”
