Some 83 per cent of financial services firms consider frictionless customer authentication to be a key driver behind their omnichannel verification efforts, a joint survey from NICE Actimize and PwC has found.

Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of the 65 financial institutions surveyed were currently assessing their authentication strategies to identify where there may be requirements for further investment in omnichannel authentication. Only three in 10 respondents had completed those assessments – of which, 61 per cent were expecting to invest in authentication technology within the next 12 to 18 months.

Only 28 per cent of the organisations canvassed had fully implemented a cross-channel authentication management system. However, the survey found that a lack of unified strategy to manage the different authentication methods often results in a poor customer experience and a less effective fraud prevention strategy.

Vikas Agarwal, principal at PwC, commented: “This strong trend toward investment in omnichannel authentication by leading financial services organisations is not surprising. Traditionally the customer authentication experience has been cumbersome, in large part due to a lack of unified authentication management.

“In an age of authentication innovation, consumers want preferences in authentication type. But with many disparate authenticators in play, users face inconsistent experiences in each channel and lengthy and excessive challenges.”

Joe Friscia, president of NICE Actimize, added: “As organisations invest in innovative and diverse authentication methods, they will also seek an orchestration strategy which uses sophisticated analytics to make real-time challenge decisions, which reduce friction for consumers, while keeping them safe from fraudsters. This of course will be especially necessary with the rise of faster payments, where authentication is the first line of defence.”

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