A Matter of Trust

I’ve been thinking a lot about trust. Trust is the bedrock of any community. And being able to develop trust allows people in a community to work with each other and form agreements whether it be a financial transaction, a partnership or new venture.

In the world of commerce -- and especially e-commerce -- where members of the community are numerous, we must rely on data rather than a personal relationship, to form this basis of trust.

Once, simple information from a Driver’s License would satisfy in forming the basis of trust.

Today, we have to rely more heavily on multiple sources of information presented by the consumer, such as Social Security Number (SSN), Date of Birth (DOB), physical address, phone numbers and email addresses.

Identity verification (IDV) solutions attempt to confirm and verify these personal items of information. They work on a premise that says, “If I get all the right information from the person, then they must be who they say they are.”

Over the past few years, these solutions have become the norm to allow companies to form a basis of trust and fulfill all the Know Your Customer programs mandated under the Bank Secrecy Act, USA Patriot Act, etc.

Unfortunately, we all know how these solutions can be duped. Or they can’t verify all of the elements, which happens a lot. Personal identifying information can be lifted – and consumers can be victimized – so easily these days. Fraud is rampant, and nearly every industry is feeling tremendous pain.

We are definitely ready for a next-generation solution. One that will focus on what ID Insight refers to as Access-point ReputationSM.

Think of it this way: Fraud almost always has an access point. Where ever transactions occur, whether it on a computer during an online purchase, the branch of a bank, or via cell phone, there is a “home location” or “access-point location” where the consumer (or fraudster) is on the other end.

As the leaders in access-point reputation, ID Insight will indeed launch the next-generation IDV solution the industry needs. It will analyze and determine the reputation of each of the access points connected to the consumer. It will create a holistic view will provide a determination as to the level of trustworthiness/risk you should assign to the consumer.

Sure, you’ll still get power-packed verification on all the identifying information the consumer presents. But we’ll also look behind the curtain – and use unique analytics -- to see what the consumer may be hiding. In short, you’ll finally get a complete ID.

Say, sounds like a great name for the solution: CompleteID.

Please, email me and let me know what you think about access-point reputation and CompleteID.

A.E>>>