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
European Banks Have the Right Tools to Stay Ahead – But Will Big Tech Overtake?
Open banking and immediate payments have come a long way, according to the panellists who joined me during the ‘Open Banking in an Instant World’ session at EBAday in Stockholm recently. The building blocks are now falling into place through the introduction of national and regional schemes, open banking initiatives, regulations such as PSD2 and the acceptance and use of APIs.
Checkout Optimization Challenges: Top Tips for Online Merchants
As the current conference season draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on one of the key topics topping the agenda for many online merchants: checkout optimization.
How Banks and Acquirers Can Deliver on the Benefits of PSD2 SCA Exemptions and Differentiate Their Merchant Services
PSD2 is an opportunity for acquirers to differentiate themselves by delivering improved services to their merchants, if they implement modern solutions to manage SCA exemptions. This will drive the best customer experience in combination with regulatory compliance.
How UPI is Driving India's Shift from Cash to Digital Payments
The Indian economy has traditionally been heavily dominated by cash, while experiencing low adoption of various online payment systems including National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and inter-bank mobile payments. The dominance of cash is evidenced by the ratio of cash withdrawals at ATMs vs debit card usage at Point of Sale (POS)—ATM transaction volume is more than 2x greater than POS.
Cooperation, Consultation and Collaboration Are the Keys to Countering CNP Fraud in Australia
As Europe, and other parts of the world ramp up for regulatory changes around PSD2, Australia is about to launch its own strategy to combat Card Not Present (CNP) fraud.
PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication – What's in Store for Merchants?
With the final pieces of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) puzzle coming together, payments businesses are highly focused on meeting their compliance obligations. But the forthcoming changes will affect everyone in the payments chain – and it’s important for merchants and PSPs to understand the practical implications for their businesses and customer relationships.
Transforming Telecom Companies in a Retail World
The recent MVNO World Congress in Amsterdam brought fascinating insights into the changing telecom industry, particularly around the opportunities that lie ahead for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and how they can they can cement their position in today’s fast-paced climate.
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.
Women Must Choose to Rise Up Despite Past, Current and Future Circumstances
Money20/20, Europe’s biggest payments and fintech event, was recently held in Amsterdam and featured Rise Up Money20/20, a global program designed to address the gender imbalance in leadership positions within the financial services and fintech industries. A cohort of 30 female professionals was selected to take part in an exclusive curated agenda, complete with a series of bespoke content sessions, one-to-one mentoring and unique networking opportunities.
Beyond Borders: Navigating the Challenges of eCommerce Expansion
eCommerce continues to flourish, with impressive growth figures year after year. In 2018, global online sales reached almost $3 trillion, and are expected to hit $4 trillion by the end of 2020.
Despite eCommerce taking an increasing slice of the retail pie (which could now be as high as 15 percent according to recent figures), it is increasingly challenging, with competition and cost pressures creating significant issues for merchants of all sizes.