Enterprise Fraud Management - The Final Frontier?

Most people who hear the word “enterprise” think Star Trek. In business circles, the term has been over-used to the point where it’s lost meaning. But when it comes to fraud management, the enterprise approach is gaining importance, not losing it.

The reason is that fraudsters, recognizing that consumers will often use the same passwords and access protocols for all their banking relationships, have started to attack consumer victims in multiple channels at the same time. Why only attack the credit card if the debit card or internet banking account use the same, already compromised details? Especially since all those channels are typically protected in silos, with different levels of fraud detection.

Today, if a customer were using their credit card in mainland Europe, but the same customer’s online banking account were being accessed from an IP address in Africa, most banks would be none the wiser. That’s why they are looking to make these connections.

Organizations need to view customers in the context of their entire relationship, as it is only then that they can truly hope to spot and stop the fraud early. And that kind of detection provides a “moment of truth” in a consumer relationship. A (potential or actual) fraud interaction managed poorly results in consumer disaffection and lost confidence — even if the consumer doesn’t close their accounts, they will often reduce their activity. A (potential or actual) fraud interaction managed well provides consumer reassurance and drives advocacy.

The message about enterprise fraud isn’t new, but for many banks today, the journey toward enterprise fraud is one they have to take. I’ll be blogging later about what that journey looks like today, and how lenders’ concept of enterprise fraud protection has changed.