Person not Present: How to Prevent Fraud

It’s no surprise that society is shifting from in-person activities to online transactions. Especially given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we interact.

From retail shopping to school classes, every niche involving in-person activity has felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses have adapted, the remote environment looks like it will be here to stay for a long time, even beyond the pandemic. While this shift has been convenient for businesses that are easily able to shift to a “work from home” format, it has also ushered in its own sets of challenges for banks and financial institutions looking to prevent fraud activity, such as “person not present” fraud.

What is Person Not Present?

Person not present in the banking industry refers to instances where a customer is not physically present for the transaction. This typically occurs with online banking scenarios such as filing an online credit card application, loan application, mobile banking actions such as online transfers, shopping, and account logins and call centers.

That said, it is important to make a clear distinction between “person not present” and “card not present” terminology. “Person not present” is an instance when a customer is not present and conducts business online without a bank or an organization knowing who is on the other end.

On the other hand, card not present refers to a situation when a consumer cannot physically present a card. In such instances, in both online and in-person transactions, a person pays using their credit or debit card number and the security (CVC) code on the back rather than physically swiping the card. Similarly, person not present fraud occurs when a bank or business cannot physically confirm the identity of the person applying for a credit line or a loan.

Most AML and identity verification efforts currently in practice involve in-person confirmation such as using a barcode scanner or assessing the quality of the ID. This leaves banks and businesses vulnerable to synthetic identity frauds and other online scams.

Thus, if you are a financial institution and interested in adapting to better secure your business, consider these methods to prevent fraud:

Prevent Fraud with Mobile Facial Recognition

Mobile facial recognition is a sophisticated technology that measures and matches the unique features and characteristics of a person’s face. A customer uses a smartphone camera to authenticate and verify their identity.

The technology is smart enough to analyze various regions of your face, including your nose width and eye placement. Then it converts this information into a unique code that authenticates your identity. Facial recognition technology is an effective solution that uses anti-spoofing confirmation and AI likeness to protect you against identity theft.

How Does Mobile Facial Recognition Protect Digital Transactions?

Online fraudsters can synthesize or replicate a stolen ID with ease. They use this information to open up credit lines or loans with no intention to repay, which hurts both the financial institution’s revenue and faults the individual whose identity was stolen. This is where mobile facial recognition technology comes into play. Even if a cybercriminal somehow gets hold of your Social Security Number or other information, they will not be able to replicate your face for verification.

Ipsidy is one available solution that is highly accurate when it comes to matching your customers’ selfies against the picture present on their uploaded ID. It can verify the matching images in a matter of seconds using this simple process:

Authenticating and verifying a consumer’s face via this technology will allow your business to identify a legit customer in real-time and rectify potential online frauds.

Prevent Fraud with Remote ID Authentication

The reality is, mobile facial recognition alone is not enough to safeguard your business with the highest accuracy possible. Alone, mobile facial recognition can get bypassed with a synthetic identity with the fraudster’s real ID photo. That’s why it makes sense to complement your tactics to prevent fraud with a remote ID authentication solution.

ID authentication solutions typically take the form of a barcode scanner that pulls relevant information and authenticates the validity of the documentation.

How Does Remote ID Authentication Protect Digital Transactions?

Unlike a traditional ID barcode scanner that simply displays the information on the card, and ID authentication solution will help you identify fakes and prevent fraud. Intellicheck, the industry leader for ID authentication measures, can quickly validate that the scanned document is a registered form of identification with over 99% accuracy.

It is simple to use on both ends; as the users fill out an online application, ask them to upload a photo of their ID front and back. Intellicheck’s system will then authenticate it quickly by then cross referencing the encoded information with the information and photo printed on the front. It can even help identify synthetic identities, which are typically really hard to catch.

Once the ID has been authenticated, Intellicheck issues a response to the institution and allows them to make an informed decision about whether or not they should proceed with the transaction. Facial recognition can be added to the process to ensure that not only is the ID real, it is also in the right hands.

Let Experts Help You Prevent Fraud

If you are a financial institution or bank, you’ll need a suite of solutions to prevent person not present fraud instances. Intellicheck is a market leader in providing businesses with both online and in-person protection against transaction-related frauds. Intellicheck’s fraud prevention solutions are not only user-friendly but easily customizable to suit your existing point of sale system. This will not only save you time and money but will reduce the risk of potential fraudsters slipping passed less sophisticated security measures.