Tag: Point-Of-Sale (POS)

Today’s most successful fraudsters aren’t sitting in high-tech labs, they’re sitting in living rooms, using tools as simple as a laptop and a spreadsheet. What looks like a complex, high-level breach of banking systems is often nothing more than basic arithmetic, a few internet searches and a complete failure of global financial systems to talk to each other.

Around the developing world, informal retail continues to be a powerful social force, employing millions of people who might otherwise not have jobs, driving economic activity in spaces that formal business has not penetrated, and providing essential goods and services for the under-served. Giving this sector a deep knowledge of their market – enabling them to stock preferred brands and products, and even offer credit to loyal customers.

For the past 10 years, we’ve been hearing about how new-generation mobile apps, wallets, tap-to-pay, NFC solutions and even the humble QR code are going to spell the end of the magnetic stripe card as a means of payment. And here we are, in 2021, and we’re finally taking big steps towards a brave new world of contactless payments.

‘Line of sight’ in the supply chain has taken on a new meaning in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Rather than simply tracking stock movements and using this data to attempt to influence the end consumer to buy a product, there is now massive investment in trying to ‘own’ the retailer from a data perspective.

In a dynamic, connected environment where sensitive customer data is highly attractive to hackers and forms the lifeblood of the business, facing a cyber-attack is no longer a case of 'if', but 'when'. Of greater concern is how to minimise the impact on their business and on customer trust.

Being nimble and awake to the rapid changes occurring to bank fraud will be essential. History tells us that things like natural disasters, times of economic instability, and fears of recession or unemployment provide the perfect environment for increased fraud and financial crime.

The concept of open banking is forcing banks to reconsider the way they think about financial services and is poised to reshape banking as it’s understood today. Realising that this is the new frontier of banking, we are far advanced in our research into open banking, including its challenges and the opportunities it presents.