Overview

This report, sponsored by Experian®, explores how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated consumers’ use of digital channels, which in turn has presented increased fraud risks. This has necessitated the need for financial institutions to implement stronger controls on identity proofing and consumer
authentication, as well as more effective fraud prevention and consumer empowerment educational campaigns. 

This report was adapted from two U.S. consumer surveys conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research in June 2020 and October-November 2020, as well as a survey of cybersecurity professionals conducted in May 2021. Javelin Strategy & Research maintains complete independence in its data collection, findings, and analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated consumers’ transition to digital channels. What’s more, consumers increasingly desire numerous options that give them more control over their financial affairs in ways that are personalized to their individual needs. Thus, providers of financial services have been forced to quickly transition to accommodate the shift toward digital. A big part of that control relates to fraud prevention. Offering consumers numerous authentication options — physical biometrics, one-time passcodes, multifactor, etc. — as well as various options of fraud-prevention empowerment (via text and email alerts with balance updates, transaction history, and suspicious activity, to name a few) also improves the customer experience.  

Methodology

The data in this report was collected from three surveys, two of U.S. consumers and one of a random sample of cybersecurity professionals across numerous industry verticals. 
U.S. consumer privacy survey conducted in June 2020 of 2,006 U.S. consumers. The margin of error is +/-2.19 percent at the 95% confidence level. 

  • The 2020 ID Fraud survey, conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 16, 2020, of 5,000 U.S. consumers. The maximum margin of sampling error is +/- 1.41 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For questions answered by all victims of identity fraud, the maximum margin of sampling error is +/- 3.22 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
  • U.S. cyber professionals survey conducted in May 2021 of 500 IT decision-makers across financial services, retail, telecommunications, information technology, and health care. 


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