In light of this afternoon’s news that TSB has been forced to apologise for yet another disruption to its online services – with customers reporting issues accessing their accounts – Andy Cory, identity management services lead at KCOM, comments on the impact of a broken authentication system on customer experience. He explores the solution to balancing access with security: frictionless customer authentication, including geo-location and geo-velocity.
Andy Cory, Identity Management Services Lead at KCOM:
“A broken authentication system has an instant impact on customer loyalty. If a business cannot provide easy access to its services without sacrificing security, it only has itself to blame when its users desert.
“The problem is balancing access with security. Too easy to get in and you risk leaving customers unguarded; too many security measures and it becomes offputting for users.
“Fortunately, there is a way to achieve the best of both worlds. Frictionless customer authentication – where users can access online services with zero input into the identification process – is becoming a reality.
“For example, geo-location and geo-velocity checking allow companies to trace a user’s physical location and how far they have travelled since their last login. Taken together, they verify if the user is who they claim to be and make any manual input from the customer unnecessary.”
