TransUnion research shows most in US fear identity fraud, but rates keep climbing

Digital identity fraud trends published at yearend in the U.S. and globally by a credit-reporting firm seem to be contradictory in a number of ways.

U.S.-based TransUnion has released two reports, each of which should be of interest to sellers of biometric systems. But drawing conclusions from them together might be tricky.

There’s also a familiar to-do list from consumers, however, that indicates some process hurdles could be at least not getting worse.

TransUnion’s digital holiday fraud report examined ecommerce transactions that its global customers denied in real-time after detecting red flags or determined were fraudulent after a subsequent review. It compared data collected November 23-27 and January 1 to November 22.

The average daily volume of suspected digital fraud rose 11.6 percent in the U.S.

(It jumped 116.9 percent between the periods in the UK and fell 49.6 percent globally.)

And yet, according to the company, the United States and United Kingdom were among the bottom three nations in terms of consumer concern about being defrauded online. Sixty-nine percent were worried in the U.S.; 59 percent of UK consumers reported being concerned.

Maybe the number reflect a dangerously cavalier attitude in the countries and concern will grow with the next billing cycle.

The second piece of research, the fourth-quarter Consumer Pulse Report, is a quarterly survey of consumer financial viewpoints. In it, respondents did not seem particularly shy about applying for additional financing.

In fact, 57 percent said they plan to apply for a new revolving credit account. The number of people reporting that grew by five percent compared to the third quarter of 2023.

While interesting on its face, that 5 percent rise is among the biggest jumps in viewpoints in the entire report. Most changes were one or two percent up or down in a report with a 1.79 percentage point margin of error.

A clearer signal for the industry comes in respondents telling survey takers why the abandoned applications for financing.

The top six of 11 complaints were factors biometric ID verifiers can address: it is too much work to apply, approval takes too long, or they have iffy job status, credit history and the like.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  market report  |  TransUnion