It’s no secret that today’s consumers have higher-than-ever expectations for the brands they buy from, bank with, and believe in. Among those expectations is the demandOpens a new window for personalized interactions, such as greeting customers by name when they call, knowing their order or transaction history, and offering tailored solutions. Simon Marchand, chief fraud prevention officer & director of product at Nuance Communications, shares how biometrics can guarantee personalization and security.
As transactions move to the digital world, consumers have more options than ever for trying new brands and experiences. Nearly halfOpens a new window of consumers reportedly will take their business elsewhere if a brand fails to offer the personalized experiences they expect.
To deliver these personalized experiences, however, brands must have good quality data available. It’s impossible to greet a customer by name without access to information that tells you who they are and how they’ve done business with you in the past. But designing and delivering personalized experiences should not—indeed, cannot—come at the expense of consumer privacy and data protection. Brands must be able to balance security and authentication with a personal touch.Â
Get to Know your Customer with AI and Biometrics
The good news is that AI and biometrics can help companies achieve this balance. Everything starts with the secure authentication of your customer’s identity. From a technological perspective, this process should be built on three core factors:Â
- Voice biometrics: The unique qualities and attributes of a person’s voice used for fast, secure authenticationÂ
- Behavioral biometrics: The ways people interact with their devices for passive and continuous fraud detection
- Conversational biometrics: The way a customer uses language, including grammar, syntax, and conversation intent
These factors combine with environment detection, anti-spoofing technologies, and other classifiers to authenticate customers, mitigate fraud losses, and protect your brand. Customers expect this process to be fast and easy, and biometrics can deliver on this expectation. Authentication happens automatically and with minimal effort for customers and contact center agents alike, even in the call’s background.
With your customer authenticated, it’s time to begin personalizing the experience—a process that means much more than just knowing their name. It’s about understanding the customer’s history and anticipating their needs. When the agent can anticipate, for example, that the customer needs to pay their bill, change an upcoming reservation, or check the status of their recent order, you’re beginning to deliver the frictionless, engaging experiences customers demand.
This level of personalization requires a complete understanding of every customer’s relationship, interactions, and transactions with your brand, which means data from every channel must be aggregated and analyzed—a challenge that AI-based platforms are uniquely capable of handling. AI-based platforms aggregate this information to support contact center employees during every interaction, offering recommendations for upsell opportunities or guidance to resolve complex inquiries.Â
See More: How Biometrics are Helping Telcos Turn Growing Challenges Into Golden Opportunities
Protecting your Customers Starts with Authentication
Years of data breaches and cybersecurity incidents have eroded consumers’ trust in brands. More consumers are now opting out of creating accounts, subscribing to emails and offers, and purchasing additional products.
When consumers choose not to share their personal information, it diminishes the brand’s ability to offer personalized services, products, and experiences in high demand. It can also hamper the company’s ability to prevent fraud and protect customer information.
Replacing slow, vulnerable authentication factors (such as PINs, passwords, and security questions) with biometric authentication not only reduces friction through the authentication process but also creates a better experience for both customers and agents. If you’re wondering how consumers feel about the use of biometrics, the research is clear. New research revealsOpens a new window that most consumers have grown comfortable with biometric authentication.
Protected, Personalized Customer Experiences
Biometrics also plays a vital role in continuously analyzing each customer interaction as it happens to detect fraudulent activity such as hand-offs and employee fraud proactively. And because biometric authentication means contact center agents don’t need to see sensitive information to validate a customer’s identity, this information is less likely to be shared with fraudsters.
Creating personalized customer experiences demands a focus on data protection, customer authentication, and fraud prevention. Securely authenticating customers using voice, behavioral, and conversational biometrics is a solid first step at shoring up security and consumers’ trust in your brand while enabling the necessary pathways for personalized, delightful customer experiences.
What are the threats to using biometrics to secure customer experiences? How can the pitfalls be avoided? Tell us what you think on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to know!
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