16 April, Sydney, Australia — Docusign (Nasdaq:DOCU), the intelligent agreement management company, together with leading global provider of identity-centric security solutions, Entrust, has today released new research revealing 61% of Australian businesses surveyed agree that the amount of fraud attempts they are seeing in their business is on the rise.

This includes increases in the most common types of fraud such as identity theft, account creation fraud, and digital document forgeries.

The Future of Global Identity Verification report revealed three key reasons behind an increase in fraud attempts: 

• More transactions are happening digitally (22%)
• Customers are unaware of security best practices (20%)
• There are higher incentives for fraud due to increased global financial pressures (21%)

The top five most common fraud techniques according to survey respondents were:

• Username and password authentication (51%)
• Sending a sign-in link via email / SMS or push notification (39%)
• Manually checking ID over the internet (35%)
• Single Sign On or authenticating through a trusted identity provider e.g. Google or Facebook login (34%)
• Digital identity document verification (30%)

The Security and Convenience Dichotomy

The surge in fraud related risks isn’t the only threat to businesses. As companies implement robust fraud prevention measures, they are faced with the dual challenge of balancing this with a seamless customer experience—and failure to do so can risk losing customers. Two thirds (65%) of Australian respondents find it challenging to combat fraud without disrupting the customer experience, suggesting that striking a balance between security and convenience is a top priority. 

Despite this, 81% of Australian respondents are optimistic and see fraud prevention as a key strategic investment and 82% have already successfully reduced fraud through the adoption of identity verification technologies.

Ed Knott, VP, ANZ at Docusign said: “Fraud is increasingly prevalent in everyday business operations, with 61% of respondents reporting a loss of over $1 million USD ($1.6 million AUD). It’s clear that businesses want to input safer security measures, but there are concerns that user experience will be disrupted.”

Businesses Find Balance with AI and Biometrics

Amidst escalating fraud attempts, 66% of Australian organisations surveyed (76% APAC) said they are increasingly turning to AI solutions to safeguard their operations—particularly AI-driven identity verification solutions. 

The average organisation from the survey reports saving over $8 million USD ($12 million AUD) as a result of preventing fraud in total where identity fraud has been prevented with identity verification. 

As a result, widespread interest in generative AI applications to combat fraud is growing, with 71% of respondents agreeing that generative AI in the identity verification process will be more effective than current mitigation tools, and 34% saying it will be much more effective.  

Beyond AI, businesses are turning to biometric verification as an advanced layer of protection. 84% of businesses surveyed stated it will be effective in reducing customer fraud risks than current methods, with 36% saying it will be much more effective.

“A misconception about fraud prevention is that stronger security comes at the cost of user experience,” said Tony Ball, President of Payments & Identity at Entrust. “Modern IDV solutions and adaptive authentication enable them both. End-users can verify their identity with a quick biometric selfie, while fraud checks such as device recognition, AI-powered deepfake detection run in the background. Adaptive authentication completes the identity lifecycle security and further enhances security by adjusting requirements based on risk signals, ensuring protection without unnecessary friction.”

Customers are becoming more used to security checks and 80% of Australian respondents say additional verification steps and processes that they’ve introduced to reduce identity fraud have had a positive impact on customers’ perception and user experience.

“This global study reinforces a critical truth: robust security measures can be implemented without sacrificing customer experience,” continued Ed Knott, VP, ANZ at Docusign. “The integration of AI in fraud prevention is not just a necessity but a catalyst for broader operational efficiency. By implementing intelligent, low-friction security measures that are part of the Docusign ID Verification portfolio, businesses can create the right balance between building trust, protecting customers, and driving long-term engagement in an increasingly digital world.”

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Additional information

• Download the full Future of Global Identity Verification report here
• Read the blog ‘Are Identity Fraud Prevention and Customer Experience Competing Priorities?’
• Register for the upcoming webinar with Entrust and Docusign here

Methodology 

The study was conducted November to December 2024 by market research firm TL;DR Insights, involving 1,413 business and IT decision makers for IDV solutions at organizations with 150+ employees that need to verify the identity of their users. Respondents are from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.

About Docusign

Docusign brings agreements to life. Nearly 1.7 million customers and more than a billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate the process of doing business and simplify people’s lives. With intelligent agreement management, Docusign unleashes business-critical data that is trapped inside of documents. Until now, these were disconnected from business systems of record, costing businesses time, money, and opportunity. Using Docusign’s Intelligent Agreement Management platform, companies can create, commit, and manage agreements with solutions created by the #1 company in e-signature and contract lifecycle management (CLM). For more information visit http://www.docusign.com/en-au

About Entrust

Entrust is an innovative leader in identity-centric security solutions, providing an integrated platform of scalable, AI-enabled security offerings. We enable organizations to safeguard their operations, evolve without compromise, and protect their interactions in an interconnected world – so they can transform their businesses with confidence. Entrust supports customers in 150+ countries and works with a global partner network. We are trusted by the world’s most trusted organizations. Learn more at www.entrust.com.