ICMI's Customer Management Insight - December 2007 - (Page 26) S T R AT E G Y customers with an outsourcing statement which conveyed that ELoan’s security measures in India would remain consistent with their security policies in California. According to E-Loan’s chief privacy officer, Tess Koleczek, who is also an attorney, any discrepancies between American and Indian law are remedied via written contractual stipulations with the vendor. COMPANY HONESTY ENGENDERS CUSTOMER DEVOTION Since February 2004, E-Loan continues to provide its customers with both the opt-out choice on the application and the outsourcing statement within the privacy policy. According to Koleczek, in 2004, 88 percent of E-Loan’s customers chose the offshoring option. She says that percentage has remained consistent since 2004. This number may surprise, given the controversy that enveloped outsourcing in 2004 and still continues to surround it today. Koleczek attributes her customers’ acquiescence to the forthright and truthful process by which E-Loan informs its customers. “A lot of companies [outsource] and you have no idea where your information is going. How many companies in the United States outsource and you just don’t know that?” Koleczek remarks. “If you’re open and honest with customers, and you explain it to them without giving them the feeling that you’re trying to deceive them, you build trust with them… ‘You trust me enough to tell me that [the outsourcing underwriting function]; I’m going to trust you with my information,’” Koleczek adds. E-Loan has never conducted a scientific study or formal customer survey that confirms Koleczek’s honesty hypothesis, so it’s impossiicmi’s insight M Adding Convenience to Customer Privacy Bell Canada has a reputation as being one of Canada’s most trusted companies for data security and customer privacy. But customers expect more than just world-class security standards; they crave convenience, as well. “We can put together the greatest security measures and the most stringent authentication schemes, but our customers have to also buy into it,“ says Charles Giordano, associate director, privacy marketing strategy, Bell Residential, Bell Canada. “There’s always a compromise because the more security you apply to your calls, the more inconvenience you present to your customers.“ To offer customers more convenience, in March 2007, Bell Canada implemented their Voice Identification Service (VIS), which, as a technological system, falls under the family of voice biometrics. Bell Canada first implemented a voice authentication scheme for their technicians four years ago, and then decided to offer the arrangement for their customer base. In September 2006, Bell Canada began the request for proposal process and thereafter chose a vendor to power the VIS system. The service is strictly voluntary for all of Bell Canada’s wireline and wireless customers. An interactive voice response system invites customers to enroll in the service, customers provide their names and account information, and once the system verifies the authenticity of this information, the customer is asked to repeat the catch phrase, “At Bell, my voice is my password,” up to four times. An accurate vocal print is captured, registered and maintained within Bell Canada‘s network. Upon subsequent calls, for example, if a customer inquires about a bill, he or she simply speaks the same catch phrase into the phone. After the system matches the caller’s voice with the voice print on file, the customer is transferred to a Bell Canada agent who handles the caller’s inquiry. Since every voice is distinct, the goal is that the VIS system will significantly minimize identity theft and impersonators, while also providing callers with more convenience. To verify the identity of a caller, he or she is only required to repeat the catch phrase, and thus is not required to recall or provide account numbers, passwords or any other traditional identity authenticators. According to Giordano, without the aid of any advertising, Bell Canada has attracted more than 400,000 VIS subscribers to date. ble at this point to verify exactly why the majority of the customers continue to select the offshoring option. But E-Loan’s full-disclosure approach reflects what they call their “culture of transparency,” that is, keep customers abreast of how their personal data is handled, and you are more likely to secure their loyalties. • www.icmi.com | DECEMBER 2007 26 http://www.icmi.com
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