Positive Profiling Makes Everyone a Winner in Gaming
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Posted by Amanda Mickleburgh to Payments Risk Management, eCommerce
Share this:
Online gaming is one of the fastest-growing segments within the broader entertainment industry. With 2 billion active gamers worldwide and 200 million people playing games on social networking sites at least once a day, it is no surprise that the market is now worth well over USD $100 billion per year.
The CX challenge
With a vast array of game genres, devices and channels now available to choose from – as well as an ever-diversifying gaming demographic to please – successfully creating a sustainably monetized game is an increasingly tough challenge for gaming companies.
Customer experience, of course, is the key. Gamers want to spend their game-time playing, not being stuck in administrative processes that interrupt their experience. Players who are prepared to part with their money to enhance their gaming enjoyment don’t want to feel like they have to stop playing to pay – it must be fast, seamless, convenient and secure, giving them no reason to pause, hesitate or exit the game.
Expectations around customer experience mean that hitting the right keys in gaming payments strategy has become vitally important in retaining market share and building long-term customer loyalty.
The fraud vs friction saga
As more and more games are played (and paid for) in the digital world, the gaming sector is being hard-hit by fraud, and customer concerns about security remain high.
Our latest research into the games market shows that 38% of gamers have had a negative experience while paying online and 19% of gamers have experienced fraud when paying for (or within) games online. It also revealed that 33% of gamers are less likely to spend money on games online, or make in-game purchases, because they are worried about payment fraud when using online payment methods. This illustrates that fraud and security are not issues that gaming merchants can simply afford to ignore.
On the flipside, 44% of paying gamers in the US, and 36% in the UK, said that encountering extra security measures when making in-game purchases slows down and negatively impacts their gaming experience – making them less likely to complete a purchase.
So, fraud is a problem, security is a concern and we know that friction in a gaming payments experience is a no-go – how can gaming merchants solve this ongoing puzzle?
Positive profiling: the data-powered hero
As with a good strategy game, understanding patterns and behaviors – of the good guys and the bad guys – is the key to a successful outcome. And that doesn’t just apply to your attempts to defeat the villain (in this case, the fraudster). Solid information and an understanding of positive behavior can also help form beneficial alliances (in this case, loyal customer relationships).
The way to achieve this is through positive profiling – a way to use customer data to proactively profile both good customers and fraudsters.
Positive profiling requires a wealth of data and the ability to thoroughly interrogate that data to build actionable intelligence. But, to make it truly powerful, it has to include consortium data – global transactional data and known fraud intelligence from across a variety of merchants (and preferably issuers too), which helps to paint a more accurate picture of each customer by looking at their payments behavior, both inside and outside of a merchant organization.
With an increasing number of gaming converts across a variety of demographic groups, the ability to see beyond the borders of a merchant’s own data is invaluable in both spotting fraud and supporting new customers. For instance, even if a merchant is seeing a paying player for the first time – consortium data can indicate a genuine customer via the data points and time on file history with other merchants.
Digital identity: the secret weapon
Positive profiling allows merchants to create digital identities for customers, based on automated, in-depth analysis of broad and deep customer data and fraud intelligence.
This can be a vital weapon in the battle against fraud, but it can also reduce friction by helping to accurately identify genuine customers; giving merchants the opportunity to tailor their payments experience, adapt the security measures that are used and process their payments faster. The result: reduced friction, fewer false positives, an improved customer experience and increased conversions.
For gaming merchants that have to balance instant customer fulfillment and an engaging player experience with the need for robust, seamless security, digital identity can open the door to success by helping to beat fraud and secure the coveted prize of player loyalty.
Find out more about the benefits of positive profiling in fraud prevention in our new eBook the 6 Step Guide to Using Machine Learning to Drive Payments Intelligence.
Related Blog Posts
How to Maximize the Value of Partnerships Between Fintechs and FIs
The LATAM Open Banking & Fintech Partnership, organized by Connect Global Group, was held earlier this year in Mexico City, and ACI participated as one of the forum partners driving discussions on how to maximize value from collaborative partnerships between FIs and Fintechs. We explored the invaluable benefits of open API and strategies to differentiate the offerings of FIs and Fintechs, address consumer demands, and best practices for implementation aligned to regulatory requirements.
How to be a Payments Trailblazer – The Seven Habits of Highly Innovative Organizations
The new Culture of Innovation Index from Ovum and ACI identified segments—from banks to intermediaries to merchants to corporates—at the cutting edge (of innovation) across the payments ecosystem. But what is most notable about those segments that have reached ‘trailblazing’ status is the apparent lack of commonality between them. No one segment, nor one region fosters better innovation. In fact, what’s driving these segments/organizations to be best of breed is their own culture of excellence. The only thing they have in common is their attitude.
New Survey Results How Lenders Can Capture More of the Billion Dollar Pie
It should come as no surprise that the disruption found throughout the world of payments would impact the world of consumer finance. Fact is, the eCommerce experience enjoyed by shoppers has created an undeniable ripple effect for everyone from bankers to lenders. And with billions of dollars at stake, it’s important to understand the impact of this paradigm shift, especially as it applies to the growing demographic known as Gen Z.
Success Speaks: Surprising New Ways Students Want to Pay
Colleges and universities are facing the dual tasks of accommodating not only new payment methods, but also a new generation of students, Gen Z, whose expectations differ greatly from even millennials. How can higher education institutions meet these demands?
In our latest Success Speaks webinar, experts from Temple University, FutureCast, ACI and MTFX Group of Companies explored today’s payments landscape for colleges and universities, payment desires of Gen Z, innovations the higher education sector is already implementing and how schools can better assist with international payments.
Why Banks Must Democratize Machine Learning for Fraud Prevention and Payments Intelligence
Banks are already actively on the path to digital transformation, considering new technologies, new customer experiences and new business models. A critical piece of this digital transformation centers on better understanding the wealth of data within the banks’ systems and mining it for improved customer insight. In the New Payments Ecosystem, data is as valuable to the bank and its customers as the deposits held in their accounts, and it should be protected, and leveraged for the benefit of the customer.
Paying Tuition – How Can Universities Make It Painless?
Six in ten families feel anxious about bills, five in ten paid a tuition bill late in the past year, and university student financial services leaders have fewer staff and smaller budgets to help families with their bills.
Survey Shows Millennials Aren’t as ‘Digitally Savvy’ When it Comes to Tax Refunds
It was not so long ago that checks, stamps and envelopes occupied more than the junk drawer in most American households. But as electronic payments and text messaging grew, asking, “Do you have a stamp?” was more likely to be met with a confused look than an actual stamp.
And yet, a recent online survey by YouGov and ACI indicates that there’s still a place for checks when it comes to paying taxes or – at least for Millennials – receiving refunds.
University Payments Made Simple for Students and Parents
According to Sallie Mae, a significant portion of tuition revenue for higher educational institutions comes from students (27%) and parents (44%), with students struggling more to pay their bills on time. As our team gets ready to head to New Orleans for Ellucian Live 2019, we looked at what’s new in the payments realm for higher education institutions, and what students and parents need to ensure their payments are made on time and with less friction. A recent survey from Aite Group, “U.S. Consumer Payments Experience: A Blueprint for Creating Positive Behaviors,” which surveyed 2,425 U.S. consumers, sheds some light on this topic.
Gen Z: Chronic Late Payers
Why More Than Half of Gen Z Pays Late
The newest generation of consumers to enter the workforce is Dazed and Confused about how to make bill payments (and they most likely don’t get that reference). In fact, 80% of Gen Z contact companies with billing questions and 53% pay their bills late. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Success Speaks: How Roanoke College Simplified Higher Education Billing and Commerce
Campus commerce has quickly become the ultimate test for payment software providers, IT professionals and administrators. Technology stacks and service offerings are continuously challenged by rapid innovation, just as budgets have begun to shrink. And to top it off, cybersecurity threats lurk around every corner, and even a single breach can destroy student confidence in their institution of higher learning.