Finance industry facing client ID dilemma

The study, conducted for GBG by Forrester Consulting, found that 92 per cent of financial service firms have placed a “high to critical” priority on improving their ability to identify customers in 2018.

The study found that poor practices at the onboarding stage are leading to missing data about customers, which leads to problems down the track.

More than three-quarters (79 per cent) of Australian firms are planning to increase their spending on digital customer experience in the next 12 months, the study found.

However, Australia is leading the world in some areas, with 77 per cent of local companies currently using facial recognition (or planning to implement it in the next 12 months).

GBG country manager for Australia and New Zealand Mathew Demetriou said: “The good news is that Australian financial service firms recognise the issues and barriers preventing them from easily identifying customers.

“It’s positive to see that firms are planning to invest in key areas to address this. While investment is great, the sector needs to keep pace with new technologies and ensure it adopts new methods to remain globally competitive.

“People can increasingly choose financial services from providers globally and are used to first-class digital experiences. It’s these heightened customer expectations that drive further competition in the sector.”