As consumer payment preferences continue to change, and the payments industry evolves to meet these preferences, fraud prevention solutions will need to be flexible and scalable to ensure that consumers and companies can transact securely.  Kount, a company at the forefront of digital fraud prevention, recently released such a solution: the Identity Trust Global Network. To talk more about the importance of identity trust and Kount’s unique solution, PaymentsJournal spoke with Gary Sevounts, Chief Marketing Officer at Kount, and Tim Sloane, VP of Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group. PaymentsJournalIdentity Trust: The Future of Preventing Digital Fraud and Improving the Customer ExperiencePaymentsJournal Identity Trust: The Future of Preventing Digital Fraud and Improving the Customer ExperiencePaymentsJournaljQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap38609177 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"off" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",settings_backup_type:"full",playfrom:"default",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"off",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "ef6b13",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_comments_playerid:"38609177",php_retriever:"https://www.paymentsjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_85764_2",settings_ap38609177); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } }); What is identity trust? Kount defines identity trust as “the ability to establish the level of trust for each identity behind every payment, account creation, and login event.” Each of these interactions has identifiers behind it, and each identity has a determinable trust level. A strong digital identity trust platform, such as Kount’s, accurately identifies and verifies the level of trust behind individual interactions, which is critical to effectively prevent fraud. Identity trust levels can range from very low to very high. If an identity trust level is very low, it’s almost guaranteed to be fraud and knowing this allows businesses to react accordingly. On the flipside, an identity level determined to be very high allows businesses to feel confident that the interaction or transaction is legitimate.  For identity trust levels that fall somewhere between low and high, businesses have the option of stepping up authentication and monitoring customers for progressively trustworthy behavior. If a trustworthy pattern is established and the trust level rises, that extra layer of authentication can be removed. What is an identity trust network? An identity trust network is a platform enabled with technological capabilities that can establish identity trust. Identity trust platforms go above and beyond the older method of evaluating identity trust level with a handful of device identity elements and an email address. Kount’s AI-powered Identity Trust Global Network, for example, looks at the “physical location of the interaction, correlation between the card transaction location, card location, shipping location, and history of the address,” explained Sevounts. Commenting on this,