By Dale S. Laszig
DSL Direct LLC
The payments journey has taken us from basic solutions to technical prowess. We've evolved from a community of solutions into an ecosystem of capabilities. Our growing suite of payment technologies is built on core values of security, intelligence, agility and transparency.
I've written about these four pillars in The Green Sheet, watching their form factors change while their underlying principles remain intact. Security solutions, for example, have expanded reach; artificial intelligence has a new bully pulpit called ChatGPT; agile solutions will be faster with FedNow; and transparency is gaining advocates, most recently with the IMF's Feb. 3, 2023, report, The Central Bank Transparency Code – Findings of the Pilot Reviews.
Introduced Feb. 15, 2023, the Central Bank Transparency Code (CBT) is a comprehensive set of transparency principles and practices that apply to all central banks, the IMF stated. After studying central banks from different economic, financial and institutional environments, the IMF proposed the CBT to facilitate accountability and policy effectiveness "by informing legislatures, markets, citizens, and other stakeholders on a central bank's performance and compliance."
A copy of the report is available for download at https://bit.ly/3zUuRWb.
When it comes to security, payment processing and marketing, we can no longer afford to be in the slow lane. Technology is moving too fast. Fortunately, the same advanced technologies we sell can manage menial tasks and monitor transactions 24/7. And some of us get employee discounts, which in addition to being a great perk, can turbocharge our selling. There's no better way to build credibility than by personally vouching for your solution.
In recent interviews, I've heard industry leaders stress the importance of timing in numerous endeavors whether going to market, managing customer expectations ahead of a product launch or reacting quickly to security threats. Experts have pointed out that technology has sharpened our defenses against all kinds of threats and risks, but it isn't infallible: if you want to move the needle with any type of initiative, the first step is getting everyone on board.
As anyone who has worked for a large or small organization can attest, getting everyone on board is far from easy. Building consensus means convincing each business unit leader that a disruptive new practice is good for them, the company's bottom line or operational efficiencies. Team leaders are passionate about their business units and want to see proof of concept before risking a new technology. After all, who wants to be the first to try something new?
Marcio Mello has led identity and authentication platform product initiatives at such global enterprises as eBay, Intuit and PayPal, introducing new authentication paradigms and getting everyone's buy-in to make it happen. Throughout his career, he has achieved consensus across different regions, attitudes, personalities and preferences. He reflected on his journey in a March 2023 fireside chat at Authenticate, a virtual conference hosted by the FIDO Alliance.
Mello's journey mirrors the FIDO Alliance's progress to fast, simple log-ins designed to replace passwords. Through the years, Mello and his colleagues deployed each new FIDO standard iteration at scale, resolved to help customers replace passwords with advanced authentication methods.
Noting that passwords have been around for more than 60 years, Mello stated consumers are fatigued with identity theft, password resets and getting locked out of their own accounts. "Companies require customers to prove their identities," he said. "Password-based authentication prioritizes good guys without necessarily keeping the bad guys out."
Achieving passwordless Nirvana will take time, but protecting the ecosystem will be worth the effort, Mello stated. Imagine how that secure foundation will help defeat security breaches and ATO attacks, he added, saying, "Let's be the group to make that happen."
Bad actors are leveraging advanced technologies to become more intelligent, agile and transparent. It's time to stop procrastinating and work together to protect our identities and data by making this our mantra: when fraudsters go fast, we go faster. 
Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet and managing director at DSL Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist and content strategist. Connect via email dale@dsldirectllc.com, LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/dalelaszig/ and Twitter@DSLdirect.
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