Mobile Money in MEA: Transformation, Opportunities, and Challenges
Whether at home on the sofa, on the train or out and about with friends – we always have our smartphone or tablet, which is more important to us than ever. With technological development and the advent of digitalisation, our shopping experience is also changing: No matter where and when, with just one click, we have ordered the desired product online and got it delivered to our home just a few days later. COVID-19 has strengthened our online shopping behaviour. In 2020, 72 per cent of Internet users in Europe purchased products or services online. As Internet usage expands, so is the competition for e-commerce retailers. As such, the quality of the customer experience is becoming increasingly important in order to stand out from the crowd. But what if the user doesn't remember the login for the online store when making a purchase? The solution is both simple and secure: passwordless authentication using a Customer Identity and Access Management system, or CIAM for short, offers users a convenient alternative to the traditional password system. Memorising complicated sequences of letters, numbers, and special characters is now a thing of the past.
Ordering products to your home quickly and conveniently: That's what consumers love about online shopping. To secure their account with their favourite retailer and meet the password requirements of the online store, users often have to come up with long, complicated passwords. But this can quickly end in frustration when they realise: "I have forgotten the password again". This is annoying not only for the customer but also for the merchant because a purchase is often cancelled as a result. This is confirmed by a survey conducted by the FIDO Alliance: 58 per cent of consumers cancel purchases due to difficulties managing their passwords. Transactions are cancelled because consumers either couldn't remember their password or were forced to create a new account and password to make the purchase.
Passwordless authentication to counter frustrating buying experiences.
The combined experiences that a customer has with a company represent the respective customer experience. According to a study by PwC, 73 per cent of participants state that the customer experience is an important factor in their purchase decision. In addition, one in three participants (32 per cent) say they would turn their back on their favourite company after just one bad experience. The figures clearly show that it is all the more important for online retailers to offer customers simple login options in order to prevent both frustration and cancelled purchases.
A quick and secure way to prevent password mishaps and create a positive shopping experience is passwordless authentication. A staggering 79 per cent of smartphone users make purchases on the Internet using their mobile devices – which plays right into the hands of online retailers. Because in the area of mobile commerce, two-factor authentication with biometric factors can be easily implemented with the help of a CIAM system due to the wide range of technical possibilities. A customer's fingerprint or Face ID is all that is needed to log in.
A smooth shopping experience is by no means only possible on smartphones; users can also use the password-free login on PCs with the aid of their cell phones: Once the customer has entered their username, further authentication can take place via a smartphone that has previously been registered to the user. This is done via a push message or authentication app.
It's all in the combination
The passwordless authentication process is not only convenient, fast and easy to use but also offers more security than passwords. While these often become the target of malware and phishing attacks, online retailers can use passwordless authentication and the CIAM system to successfully prevent the theft of user data while, at the same time, strengthening customer loyalty by ensuring a smooth purchasing process.
