Heroes in Business - Experian Identity Report, Digital Identity, Using a Layered Approach to Verify Identities with Kathleen Peters

Episode Date: November 27, 2022

Experian Identity Report with Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer for Experian Decision Analytics in North America interviewed by David Cogan famous host Heroes Show and founder Eliances entrepreneur community. Kathleen is the lead in the area of innovation and business strategy for her group. She and David discuss using a layered approach to verify identity and more in this episode.  

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right, and I'm always flying in, so make sure you always continue to stay tuned, especially today, because again, it's the Experian Identity Report on Alliances, and with that, we're bringing you the special reports with the world's leading experts about the game-changing impact on identity and the need to use reliable data to make confident decisions that safely

accelerate customer engagement. And we're joined with Kathleen Peters, who leads innovation and business strategy for Experian Decision Analytics in North America in her role as Chief Innovation Officer. And make sure that you go to Experian.com. That's E-X-P-E-R-I-A-N.com. So Kathleen, we're really looking forward again to learning about digital identity and specifically today about using a layered approach to verify identities, which in itself is so critical. So tell us this, what does it mean in regards to a layered approach? A layered approach when it comes to identity verification refers to businesses using the right tools at the right time with the right data and analytics for a particular given situation.

So the real goal here is to build trust between the consumer and the business so that the consumer feels safe and protected without feeling overly inconvenienced or verified to death. The business really needs to trust that the consumer is not fraudulent, that the consumer is who they say they are. And getting that mix right is not a one size fits all kind of a silver bullet approach. That's what we mean by layered. You want to put the right tactics in time, the right verification, depending on what the consumer is trying to do and how risky you think they are. depending on what the consumer is trying to do and how risky you think they are. Well, and that's the thing is, is can you give us more of a specific example or various examples,

maybe, of how that works? Yeah, sure. So when you or I visit a site online or we log on to an app, the business that we're trying to reach and engage with is going to be doing a number of things in the background, pretty invisibly. So they're going to be gathering information about the device. You know, it's being presented as an Apple iPhone. Is this really an iPhone? It's going to be looking at whether the Internet address, the IP address makes sense, like it's coming from where we would expect it to come from for this consumer. So all these things are going on in the background, the health of that internet connection. Does it just seem like it makes sense? It's appropriate, things like that. And so while the person is entering their username and password or otherwise logging in, these invisible checks are looking to detect, is there something that seems off or does it seem good?

If it detects some risk, then depending on what the consumer is trying to do, you might want to further authenticate that consumer. If they're just browsing around, you let them be. But if they're going to be trying to open an account or wire some money or buy some crypto maybe you want to further authenticate that person so we're all used to maybe getting a text a one-time password to our phone and then having to enter that into a form so that's one kind of step up that's a layer um maybe you'll be asked some questions some personal questions that will help further identify you. You may even be asked to present your government issued ID and take a picture of it, but that's not something you want to ask everyone every time, right? You want to get the right approach at the right time. And that's

what layering means. Yeah. And tell me, why do you feel though that approach is the best than not just saying, Hey, let's, let's just get right to the get-go, show everything that you've got, and move forward. So talk to us about that aspect. Yeah, yeah. Really, people want to engage with businesses that they like, that they trust, and consumers want to be trusted by those businesses. And so if we can get this layered approach right, then the experience is going to be better. When we enjoy that experience, and let's be honest, we've kind of been trained by the likes of Amazon to be able to shop and buy, easy cart, on we go. That is the kind of experience that we've come to expect in so many of our digital engagements. And so if we can get this mix right, where we have just the right amount of friction, just the right amount of checking up on the identity, depending

on what the use case is, then we'll build that great relationship with customers. And for businesses, I'll want to keep coming back again and again, where it's been a great experience, it's convenient, and I feel like I can trust that situation. So that's why it's so important to get this right. Kathleen, this is great. And again, you're watching, listening to me, host of the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure that you go to Alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S dot com. The only place where entrepreneurs align. And again, we have with us Kathleen Peters at Experian. And guess what? Online payment fraud is predicted to

exceed over $206 billion within the next five years. That's why we've teamed up with Experian, because people have got to be educated in regards to this. So make sure again, you go to Experian.com. That's E-X-P-E-R-I-A-N.com. Because again, Kathleen Peters, who's here today, leads innovation and business strategy for Experian Decision Analytics in North America as her role as Chief Innovation Officer. Once again, that's Chief Innovation Officer. What a cool title, Kathleen, too. Thank you. Thank you. So tell us about how Experian is innovating in this approach. This is an area that I'm really passionate about. It's an area that I love and where I spend a lot of my time. So we're always looking ahead because the things that comprise our identity are evolving.

So I talked a little bit about the device that we're using. Maybe I'm logging in with an iPhone or using my desktop. What does my identity mean in this digital world? We have our traditional identity elements like name, address, date of birth, etc. But in the digital space, I also have my mobile phone number. I have my email address. I even have my behaviors of how I engage with the website that helps businesses determine my identity and whether it seems more human than perhaps a bot, something that's trying

to do something nefarious. It can also look to determine whether I am Kathleen Peters or someone has stolen my identity or is impersonating me. So there's a lot of opportunity as we look at these new definitions of identity to think about how we innovate on first recognizing consumers when they are online, helping us as consumers feel protected, and then also helping businesses protect themselves from fraud. So that means building some things in-house as well as partnering and investing in some exciting new companies as well, and combining them with some of the things that Experian's doing. That's great. And I think it's phenomenal that Experian, again, has the resources to be able to pull

all of this together, hire the best to combat what, again, is just continuing exploding because otherwise who else can do it? That's right. That's right. You know, and having the resources to be able to do it. So that's, again, phenomenal. And we're very, very honored to have you here today. What else do you wanna share with us

about all of this that's going on? Yeah, it is really exciting times, David, and I'm excited to be able to share with your audience some of the things that we're doing. We have research labs and incubators where we're trying out these new things. It's very exciting. And we're doing this very much hand in hand

with the consumer. Consumers are definitely becoming more sophisticated. We're all getting used to doing new things online across all ages and demographics. And as people, as consumers, we're excited about new opportunities. Just look at the rise of the use of buy now, pay later, crypto, fintechs. So getting our identities right is really critical for us as consumers and for the businesses that we engage with. So there's a lot to do. These are exciting times. And we look forward to having many more of these conversations with you. Well, that's great. Again, you've been watching, listening to me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. Make sure you go to alliances.com because this is strategy for experience decision analytics in

North America in a role as I love this role chief innovation officer make sure that you go to Experian.com.