There is a new normal marked by the role the internet now plays in our daily lives. It has become our workplace, our classroom, where we shop and conduct business, and our social lifeline. “Working from home” has become acceptable for even the most traditional of businesses. Zoom is now a verb.

The rapid growth and adoption of digital banking has led to surging fraud rates. And despite increased investments in fraud protection, financial losses remain at an all-time high, exposing gaps in traditional fraud prevention and authentication controls. According to PwCs 2020 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey, fraud cost participating organizations $42 billion over a period of 24 months1.  

Remote access scams have been a hot topic for years. The attack methodology is simple, but extremely effective. A scammer uses a trusted brand or entity, to convince the victim to provide remote access of their device to 'fix a problem'. The purpose is to evade fraud detection controls, as many banks treat sessions from a customer's normal device as trusted, and therefore low risk. Device ID profiling is therefore ineffective at detecting this type of fraud and losses are higher than ever, as seen in the latest ACCC Scamwatch statistics below:

How behavioural biometrics can help address the new Digital Payment Security Controls directions, 2021 guidelines

Behavioral biometrics analyzes a user’s digital physical and cognitive behavior and is most commonly used today as a fraud prevention solution. Behavioral biometrics distinguishes between legitimate users and cybercriminals and identifies people by how they behave and interact online rather than by static information or physical characteristics, like what they know or what they have access to.

Financial institutions continue to prioritize investment in digital banking to grow revenue and acquire new customers. The coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated that transformation, specifically around digital account opening. With access to physical branches restricted, digital account opening surged, with nearly two out of three checking accounts opened by consumers either online or from a mobile device during the height of the pandemic. A majority of the growth has come from demographic groups, such as boomers and seniors, who have been traditionally slow in adopting digital banking and commerce.