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In a world where daily interactions have become increasingly digital and anonymous, consumers' lives are moving faster than ever — and they expect their communications service providers (CSPs) to keep up. But because ecommerce is driven by trusted connections between businesses and consumers, knowing who you’re really dealing with is critical, and providing safety without unnecessary friction during engagements is now table stakes. That means CSPs must obtain a unified view of their customers to create the trust needed to transact across all channels — especially since the average US household with internet access had 17 connected devices in 2023, according to 2024 Consumer Electronics research.
This genuine understanding of who your customers are — and how to locate and interact with them —underpins your ability to provide them the best service, as well as minimize risk.
Identity resolution
The relationship you have with each customer is built around identity resolution: verifying individuals to understand their distinct identities and growing digital footprints. Identity data enables you to see a full profile of each consumer. However, vital customer data is often fragmented across multiple systems. Bringing together disparate systems requires time and resources. Meanwhile, millions of addresses, phone numbers and devices are constantly changing, making manual processes to update outdated, incomplete or incorrect data nearly obsolete.
Automated systems connect identity data from various sources to build a unified profile whose information is continually updated and accessible in real time. The right identity resolution solution delivers seamless, secure experiences without undue friction. In addition, identity resolution happens in the background, so it doesn’t disrupt the customer experience.
When you’re ready to examine the effectiveness of your fraud mitigation techniques, look for a third-party provider that has identity resolution technology combined with analytics-based data.
The importance of a single, persistent identity
A singular view of customers makes it easier to understand customer behavior, preferences and purchasing history. Bringing together in-house customer information with third-party alternative and historical data produces a more in-depth profile. As a result, you’re able to deliver more personalized, relevant and enticing communications.
Fraud mitigation
As new threats emerge, the easy route for CSPs is to continue using a patchwork of disconnected systems that rely solely on traditional data sources, forcing a trade-off between customer experience and fraud prevention. The problem is antiquated systems open the door for fabricated, synthetic or stolen identities. In fact, based on our 2024 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report, digital fraud increased 105% fraud from 2019 to 2023.
So, while consumers increasingly prefer and take advantage of the convenience of digital channels when shopping, fraudsters are busy refining their tactics for infiltrating mobile devices, looking for vulnerable gaps in security. With automated identity resolution and fraud processes, you can seamlessly verify and authenticate legitimate consumers — while working to stop fraudsters before crimes can be committed.
Device authentication
Mobile ecommerce has become increasingly mainstream. more than 183 million US adults shop using a mobile device, and 72% of global ecommerce sales come from mobile devices, according to CapitalOne research.
Everyone knows data is vulnerable to fraud attempts; however, some widely adopted authentication solutions fail to address emerging fraud tactics because CSPs are unable to identify devices entering the network. That’s why in addition to verifying a person, identity resolution also protects devices. It can determine if a device is likely in the hands of the owner and checks device history for risky behaviors that could point to fraud.
Bottom line, combating today’s evolving threats while being ready for the unexpected is a complex challenge. The good news is it’s one that can be solved — but it requires an effective, holistic solution.
How TransUnion can help
Our data fusion and identity resolution capabilities link and match profile data from thousands of public and proprietary data sources, allowing us to deliver robust and actionable profiles in seconds.