The Holiday Hustle: Providing improved experiences for cardholders and FI staff

The Holiday Hustle: Providing improved experiences for cardholders and FI staff

By Q2

6 Dec, 2018

The holidays may be the most wonderful time of the year, but for financial institutions (FIs) and their cardholders, the holidays can also be the riskiest, most inconvenient time of the year. Breaches happen—and harried holiday shoppers have been known to gift grinches with wallets or purses left in shopping carts. As consumers sprint from store to store—and website to website—debit and credit card usage increases, putting shoppers at risk of card compromise, opening them up to the headache of disputing fraudulent charges. Not only that, the subsequent hassle of having to update subscription and point-of-sale information across websites can be a real "nightmare before Christmas" … and Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, and Solstice…

Luckily for cardholders, paper-based processes that can be fraught with human error are no longer the only options for responding to fraud. FIs looking to provide the gifts of a better experience after a card is compromised—both during the holidays and through the rest of the year—can benefit from more streamlined solutions. Whether an offense takes place online or right under a victim’s nose, there are ways to make cardholders merry again.

Bah humbug! New ways to respond to fraud.

For account holders, few tasks can hamper the holiday spirit like being forced to dispute a fraudulent charge made on their card.

Luckily, there are modern solutions that can help FIs eliminate paper-based processes, automate dispute management, and make the entire experience more convenient for their cardholders. FIs who employ these tools may also see a reduction in the inherent risks that result from moving paper forms around. By automating processes as much as possible, FIs and cardholders can also benefit from transparent processes that keep next steps clear and the cardholder aware of where they are in the dispute process.

Holiday Cyber Shopping

A gift of convenience

With new technology offerings, consumers can simply update their payment info once, and their new debit or credit card information is automatically applied across their favorite subscription and digital point of sale services.

But even after disputes are handled, the work of dealing with a compromised card is far from over.

Shoppers are increasingly storing their credit and debit card data with online vendors and subscription services. But this convenience isn’t so convenient when compromised card information needs to be updated across a host of vendors and apps, from Amazon to Zappos.

Instead of leaving cardholders to update card information on a multitude of individual sites, FIs should search for partners that provide new ways to avoid the hassle of updating payment card information for every individual vendor. With new technology offerings, consumers can simply update their payment info once, and their new debit or credit card information is automatically applied across their favorite subscription and digital point of sale services.

The benefits of this approach aren’t solely aimed at cardholders, though. By making it easier for account holders to update their payment preferences with an FI’s card, that card becomes "stickier"—used in more places, more frequently—generating even more valuable interchange revenue.

When FIs create better financial experiences for account holders—during the holidays or year-round—they’re more likely to sell additional services while building better relationships.

Find out how your FI can create better financial experiences.


Q2

Written by Q2