Public Funding for Lab Group Services Limited

Significant detriments have been suffered by very large numbers of vulnerable people using online financial services, leading to ongoing consultations, fines and regulatory action. However, methods of detecting vulnerability are exclusively face‐to‐face or phone-based. No online vulnerability assessment methods exist. This is becoming a significant impediment to introducing the regulatory reform needed to protect these vulnerable consumers and democratising online financial services: vulnerable people are just as entitled to use online financial services as anyone else, and should be able to do so safely. In this project, LAB intends to develop an intra-browser vulnerability assessment methodology that can be applied to financial service organisations' online platforms and thereby help them better identify and serve vulnerable customers. To identify vulnerable individuals, the methodology will deploy behavioural biometrics. Currently, behavioral biometrics is applied in next-generation user security solutions for online banking, e-commerce, payments and high-security authentication markets. The method is used to identify individuals based on the unique way they interact with computer devices like smartphones, tablets or mouse-screen-and-keyboard. LAB will also detect the unique way individuals interact online, but not to identify individuals or prevent fraud, instead looking for indicators of vulnerability. Once identified, these vulnerable consumers will then be better served using the latest intelligent personalisation techniques from the marketing world to guide and signpost them appropriately using journey adaption, interventions and nudges. Improving vulnerable customer protection and experience online will allow these customers to safely enjoy the same benefits of digitised offerings the rest of the population enjoy, potentially impacting 10 million+ people in the UK alone.