The year #2020 marks a landmark year, especially for us in India as we dreamt of becoming a ‘Complete Nation’ or ‘Superpower’ (or whatever one would like to term it), through balanced growth, technology driven economic stability and perceptibly the millennial’s potential. While the global news of COVID-19 has reminded us how vulnerable we are as humans, I have tried to find something optimistic to look forward to on the back end. I see a lot of opportunity, specifically with “The Digital Rush”. The digital adoption growth rate we are seeing in India cannot be compared with any other country globally, completely reimagining the way we operate and moving us out of our comfort zones.

The role of digital services in our lives has never proven more pivotal than it has this year as a result of the global pandemic. From banking and shopping to how we work and learn, the most routine activities we do every day have been completely upended.

Cybercrime is opportunistic, and there is no time like the present for criminals to adapt their tactics, old and new, to defraud online customers. Remote access scams are one of those tactics, and the number of attacks has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cybercriminals are using the unstable environment to their advantage to take over digital accounts. We’ve seen remote access used more frequently by both legitimate users and criminals as more of everyday life shifts online.

All forecasts predict that online shopping will be the defining trend of the 2020 holiday season. According to a study by Deloitte, e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 25% to 35% this year. In addition, with a resurgence of coronavirus cases expected in the cold months, many consumers are likely to shop from the comfort of their homes. This expected increase in digital commerce is a continued trend toward digital channel usage that we’ve been tracking since the pandemic began.

As businesses dive deeper into digital initiatives, the need to balance security and usability is more critical than ever. Customers are demanding world-class experiences and have limited patience for complex online interactions and unnecessary friction. At the same time, fraud is on the rise and costlier than ever.

Account opening fraud is one of the fastest growing cyber threats today. The sheer volume of digital channel usage by consumers brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem and has allowed fraudsters to hide in plain sight. In fact, 85% of financial institutions report experiencing fraud in the account opening process.