The Evolving State of Consumer Identity and Authentication

This report, sponsored by TransUnion, explores the ever-increasing complexity of identity verification, its growing reliance on digital signals, and the importance for businesses of all sizes to employ intelligently designed systems that take full advantage of those signals and complexity to streamline and fortify consumer authentication. This report is derived from the 2023 Identity Fraud Study: The Butterfly Effect, published by Javelin Strategy & Research in March 2023. Javelin Strategy & Research maintains complete independence in its data collection, findings, and analyses. Consumer identities, the list of personally identifiable information (PII) of which they are comprised, and the consumer identification and access management (CIAM) solutions designed to authenticate those identities have evolved in recent years and will continue to do so.

Consumer identities are increasingly defined by digital data, including device-based, biometric, and behavioral signals that can be difficult for criminals to subvert and powerful for businesses to employ in authentication and fraud detection platforms. Emerging technologies such as deep-fake programs and sim card cloning software ensure that identity criminals and CIAM tool creators will remain locked in a digital arms race, making it more likely that small to medium-sized businesses, with limited fraud expertise and human capital to devote to model building, will need to rely on third-party CIAM solutions to protect themselves from tech-savvy criminals. By employing CIAM solutions that are efficient, intelligent, flexible, robust, unified, channel-agnostic, and nearly frictionless for legitimate accountholders, businesses of all sizes can better protect themselves and their consumers from the scourge of identity fraud and its heavy toll.