With COVID-19, we now welcome everybody to the digital economy. The value — and need — to verify people digitally is now unavoidable. To avoid potential fraud, companies and individuals alike need to know with certainty that the people buying their products and interacting with them online are who they claim to be.
Under social distancing guidelines, companies and consumers are no longer tied to conducting business at physical locations. We are processing digital transactions at unprecedented levels. Likewise, with businesses no longer able to conduct standard interview and background checks in person, they need to verify new employees to confirm they are trustworthy and do not present a risk to the company or its customers.
There is a saying that “necessity is the mother of invention.” In 2020, necessity will drive the expansion of, and new developments in, digital identity verification in our everyday lives.
The new status quo is no status quo. As a CTO, I am excited about the technology shifts we’re seeing. We are challenging our own perceptions and assumptions. Every company has to rise to the challenge and create completely new ways to engage with internal teams and customers.
A common assumption was that collaboration inherently suffers in remote environments. In fact, collaborative efforts can be more effective when we’re remote. We spend less time traveling, waiting for meetings and focusing on other day-to-day time wasters. Now, we hop on video calls, instantly connect with people around the globe, share screens and collaborate without missing a beat. I’m a huge believer in the power of in-person connection, but I’m also excited that now, face-to-face meetings will be even more valuable when they do occur.
For businesses to survive, resisting digital transformation is no longer an option. Unfortunately, businesses that weren’t prepared with an adequate cloud infrastructure have suffered greater losses. To thrive, companies must be agile and able to operate remotely.
Lessons from the Pandemic
Relationships are everything. We never know when a crisis will strike; people want to know that whoever they work with has their back and will be there, rain or shine. A customer has to understand that when they stake their reputation on Mitek, they can trust us implicitly to always go the extra mile whenever challenges arise.
Additionally, while we rely on technology for sales presentations, demos or routine check-ins, the intrinsic value of in-person meetings has been reinforced since they are (and will be) rare, at least for the foreseeable future. We will be more purposeful about what we need out of a physical interaction. I believe we will focus these extremely valuable face-to-face moments on building even stronger relationships, having candid conversations and learning how we can improve to become even better partners.
This excerpt is from PYMNTS' June 2020 report: How 35 Execs Are Powering The Great Digital Shift Of 2020 (And Beyond). The report gathers insights from 35 payments executives about their individual efforts to fast-track the leap to digital and recount what has happened in the past 12 weeks — and what will need to happen moving forward to keep that digital shift in play.
About Steve Ritter
Mitek Chief Technology Officer, Stephen Ritter, drives the technical development of Mitek’s award-winning mobile deposit, mobile capture and identity verification solutions. With more than 25 years of experience in machine learning, security, cloud and biometric technologies, Stephen provides an innovative source of technical leadership and expertise. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego and has co-authored eight patents.