The evolving journey of identity for new-to-country consumers
As individuals navigate life events, financial institutions face challenges to consistently and confidently verify their identities. Without a comprehensive view, weak identity verification at account opening leaves the door open for fraudsters to slip through, and for inequitable access to financial services for customers who may lack specific legacy verifiable information.
The focus of our story today imagines the life of Mia, a young woman immigrating to the United States. We’ll follow her journey as she traverses the financial ecosystem, and explore what organizations can do to ensure all good consumers gain access to financial services, without unnecessary friction.
Verifying Mia: A journey to financial access
Like many new-to-country individuals, Mia does not have an established U.S. credit history or much documentation to verify her identity to financial institutions and service providers. This makes it difficult for Mia to gain access to credit cards, loans, bank accounts, and other financial services that are critical for establishing financial independence in a new country.
Traditionally, new-to-country consumers like Mia face substantial friction during the application process for financial services. With limited credit history available, many providers resort to manual reviews, step-up authentication methods, and denying applications altogether. This results in new immigrants being unfairly barred from the same financial services readily available to those with established U.S. credit.
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