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‘Tis the season: How Context Aware™ Authentication secures and streamlines holiday transactions

Banking Payments Security
During the holiday season, consumers expect hassle-free digital shopping experiences. And when their online payment transactions don’t go smoothly, it’s a big problem — because it creates a frustrating customer experience and a break in trust with the merchant or card issuer’s brand.
Big e-commerce companies manage to deliver a consistent checkout experience that consumers trust and are familiar with. But is it only those big players that have the right ecosystem to pull it off? Read on to learn more.

The need for secure payment authentication

With the holiday season in full swing and bargains from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other festive deals beckoning consumers, the increased traffic also means more opportunities for fraudsters. Social engineering attacks increase markedly over the holidays. In fact, research posits that phishing attacks will double over this period compared to last year.
What's more, today’s fraud attacks often include two or more vectors in a single attack. As a result, FIs need a modern payment authentication solution comprising layers of detection to fight off, and even preempt evolving banking and payment fraud.
"FIs need a modern authentication solution comprising layers of detection to fight off, and even preempt evolving banking and payment fraud."
Unfortunately, while FIs try to find a remedy for each new incursion and add more standalone security measures to their banking platforms or “legacy spaghetti”, they create more data, security, and user experience silos. This often leads to blocks in innovation and inconsistencies in customer engagement — and ultimately detracts from the user experience and scalability of their services.

Customer expectations from online checkouts

Typically, the result of piecemeal banking security systems is an inconsistent user experience, which drives customers away. Per PYMNTS research, 91% of consumers are keen to shop with a merchant again IF the checkout experience is good.
"Two-thirds of shoppers expect the checkout process to be four minutes or less."
Furthermore, two-thirds of shoppers expect the checkout process to be four minutes or less (and 28% even hope for under two minutes!).
Does your authentication process enable efficient checkouts, or does it hinder the overall customer experience? If the latter rings true, here’s what you can do.

Secure, seamless payments with Context Aware™ Authentication

With Entersekt, FIs can protect their customers from financial criminals, while offering a user experience that contributes to hassle-free checkouts and boosts conversion rates. This is where Context Aware™ Authentication comes into play. Our ecosystem of risk-based measures works actively and, in the background, across all digital and payment channels, including 3-D Secure transactions.
"With a single authentication solution, FIs can share risk signals across channels, protecting against attacks that stem from multiple fronts."
By gaining a context-rich picture of each user and transaction, and sharing that intelligence across all other channels, it enables a curated authentication journey for the customer. So, if they’re shopping online, the authentication process will use real-time data to authenticate them, verify their identity (in high-risk transactions), and keep their payment secure, without adding unnecessary friction that could hinder their shopping experience.
In the end, our own people say it best.
“Fraud prevention is not a strategy that is separate from customer experience. Fraud prevention is a primary pillar in a best-in-class customer experience.” — Cathryn Matarazzo, Product Marketing Director, Entersekt.
Learn more about securing and streamlining your online banking and payment solutions with Context Aware™ Authentication.