Kenya’s financial services industry is battling to meet growing consumer demand to provide greater digital access to products and services, while simultaneously addressing the challenges of online fraud aimed at consumers, says global information and insights company TransUnion.
According to TransUnion’s latest quarterly analysis of global online fraud trends, fraudsters are targeting businesses less, but increasing scams against consumers online. Suspected fraudulent digital transactions against businesses worldwide decreased 14% between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022, according to TransUnion’s quarterly fraud analysis.
In Kenya, suspected digital fraud attempts decreased by -27% in the same period.
By contrast, TransUnion’s latest Consumer Pulse Study found 57% of Kenyan consumers are aware of digital fraud attempt against them in the second quarter of 2022, with 87% saying they are concerned about sharing their personal information.
READ: Why Remittances To Kenya Remain Resilient Despite Inflation
What this means for Kenyan financial institutions and businesses is that they are being challenged to balance the need to protect themselves and their customers from fraud, while continuing to provide a seamless customer experience, says Amritha Reddy, Head of Fraud at TransUnion
“As we accelerate the shift to transact online, fraud is shifting digitally as well. Kenyan businesses must give their customers the smoothest possible onboarding experience on digital channels, but traditionally fraud detection and prevention solutions have historically negatively impacted that experience,”
said Reddy.
According to analysis from research and advisory firm Forrester conducted on behalf of TransUnion*, more than half of financial services firms see their identity verification methods as burdensome on good customers. Forrester found this leads to customers abandoning new financial product applications before completion.
To help solve this problem, TransUnion in Kenya this week launched Digital Onboarding, a new solution to help the financial services industry provide consumers with a simpler digital application and onboarding experience.
READ: 5 Things To Do if You’re Battling To Pay Your Bills
Digital Onboarding helps businesses offer greater digital access to products and services, while addressing an increase in attempted fraud that can come with a rise in digital transactions.
It delivers a friction-right experience that includes combining digital and physical identity establishment and verification, while increasing conversions and loyalty, reducing fraud, and improving operational efficiencies. The service is delivered via a single API that significantly reduces integration time and effort for financial institutions.
“Digital Onboarding includes a multi-layered fraud strategy that leverages TransUnion’s vast offline and online data, insights and analytics to create a great experience for good customers and also effectively be used to stop fraud. This way, we enable institutions manage risk more effectively and protect both themselves and the consumers they serve,”
said Reddy.
