As we continue to navigate the uncharted waters of the COVID-19 pandemic, risk is taking on a whole new face for financial institutions. What may have been seen as an average credit application a few weeks ago, now could be considered high-risk, or worse...fraud. And, I don’t expect things to change back very quickly.
There is no question, the current economic conditions are uncharted waters for most businesses today, including online lenders. It is ironic that as thousands of households are tightening their belts and looking to unsecured loans as a way to bridge the financial gap, that online lenders are being much more selective in whom they extend credit.
COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of digital transformation globally, forever changing the landscape of CX, digital risk, and fraud for financial, payments and insurance institutions. The ability to engage with prospects and clients in a digital environment has gone from a nice-to-have feature to a business-critical foundation overnight.
The coronavirus outbreak currently affecting the world population has concentrated our worries quite rightly on our families and friends. Their health and well-being are paramount. The pandemic not only has an immediate effect on us as individuals and our loved ones but has wider implications for the online lending industry and associated businesses.
I was looking over the “State of Digital Customer Experience Report – 2020,” published by CMSWire.com and Simpler Media Group, and many of my suspicions and observations were confirmed when it comes to the current efforts to improve CX using today’s most popular technologies. They fall short, typically making decisions based on treating symptoms and not the root cause of CX issues – friction in the digital customer journey.
If you can’t see what your customer is experiencing in real time, how are you going to make their experience better?
Somewhere along the way during the digital transformation era, the customer fell out of the customer journey. Just ask yourself, “Are our customers at the center of our digital transformation?” They should be.
In the early years of digital transformation, organizations digitized their customer interactions by merely replicating face-to-face and paper-based processes for the online world. Today, that’s simply not enough to meet the demands of a savvier digital customer.
Let’s face it, no one likes friction when it comes to completing tasks online. We completely get it. Yesterday, Neuro-ID announced the release of its inaugural FinTech Friction Index(R) Report, based on over 20 million customer journeys from the world’s top fintechs, analyzed through the lens of friction. Leveraging Neuro-ID’s proprietary, neuroscience-driven analytics and its Friction Index™, the report measures the real-time levels of friction experienced during the digital onboarding process, providing a window into the intent and mindset of the applicants. As an industry ‘first,’ the report ushers in a new level of understanding to improve the digital experience.