“Around 65 per cent of customers respond to their text messages promptly. Efficient monitoring solutions increase customer satisfaction and give us the tools to prevent fraud, saving millions of euros.”

Jukka Ruotsalainen, Director of Issuing Production Services, Luottokunta

Helsinki-based Luottokunta manages most of the credit card payments made in Finland. In 2010, it deployed a BookIT iSMS solution that integrates patented technology with Microsoft Dynamics CRM to deliver an interactive text message fraud prevention service. An increasing amount of cardholders now confirm their payments immediately by text message, enhancing fraud prevention operations and potentially saving millions of euros every year.Customer: Luottokunta

Website: www.luottokunta.fiNumber of Employees: 500Country or Region: Finland Industry: Financial services—BankingPartner: BookIT

Customer ProfileHelsinki-based Luottokunta has 500 employees, and counts most of the major credit card companies and banks in Finland among its customers.

Software and Services Microsoft Dynamics− Microsoft Dynamics CRM

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Microsoft DynamicsCustomer Solution Case Study

Payments Provider Increases Security and Cuts Costs with Text Confirmation Solution

Business NeedsLuottokunta, a card payment service provider based in Helsinki, Finland, manages Visa and MasterCard payments for more than 100,000 commercial businesses in the country. Customers in Finland make three times more payments by card than the European average, and Luottokunta processes payments for around six million cards, equating to €23 billion worth of transactions annually. The company is the second-largest credit card service provider in the Nordic region, and its reputation hinges on its ability to offer

customers safe, secure systems that protect them from fraud.

Luottokunta uses sophisticated software to analyse customer transactions and identify suspicious payments. When a suspicious transaction is identified, a customer service employee tries to reach the card holder to confirm the validity of the transaction. Until recently, if staff couldn’t reach a customer or didn’t receive a timely reply to their query, the customer’s card was temporarily deactivated as a protection against fraud. Given that up to at least 90 per cent of suspicious transactions are not fraudulent, deactivation was time consuming and frustrating for customers.

Jukka Ruotsalainen, Director of Issuing Production Services at Luottokunta, says: “Many of our customers travel on business, so it’s not uncommon for them to make a purchase in Helsinki one day, Berlin the next day, and Switzerland the day after. If a customer makes payments in multiple countries, it can trigger a fraud alert and result in the deactivation of his or her card. Customers frequently contacted Luottokunta or their bank at their own expense to say that they couldn’t use their cards.”

SolutionLuottokunta needed a technology that underscored its presence as a leader in the payments market in Finland. In 2010, it approached BookIT, a company specialising in systems for mobile phone payments and booking systems. BookIT worked with Luottokunta to deploy an interactive text messaging solution based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and BookIT iSMS technology.

Luottokunta purchased 50 licences for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for users

including call centre staff and business managers. In addition, employees use a Siebel CRM solution for marketing purposes. Jarmo Ikonen, Sales Director at BookIT, says: “We used Microsoft Dynamics CRM for the business solution to ensure that customer contact and financial data flows between the secure BookIT iSMS technology and Microsoft technology. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we knew that time to market would be short and our deployment costs low. In fact, BookIT took just one-and-a-half months to get the solution up and running.”

With the new system, customers are notified by text message when unusual transactions occur. They then have an opportunity to confirm legitimate purchases with an authenticated text message reply showing a unique fingerprint known only to the customer and the bank.

Ruotsalainen says: “After call centre staff enter a card holder’s details into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution, the customer receives a series of automated text messages based on the BookIT iSMS technology. An initial text alerts the customer that a message regarding a recent transaction will be sent shortly. The second text message asks the customer

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published March 2011

whether he or she made a particular transaction. Customers reply with a single letter to confirm or decline the transaction. After the dialogue has been completed, a thank you message is sent.”

BenefitsWith the new system, Luottokunta has cut its fraud prevention administrative costs, while increasing customer satisfaction. The integrated BookIT iSMS and Microsoft Dynamics CRM technology has also helped the company redeploy a number of employees working on fraud prevention to work on other essential business.

Losses through fraud are reduced, customer satisfaction is increased. Although the solution is only recently deployed, customers have adapted quickly to the BookIT iSMS solution. Ruotsalainen says: “Around 65 per cent of customers respond to their text messages promptly. Efficient monitoring solutions increase customer satisfaction and give us the tools to prevent fraud, saving millions of euros.”

Helpdesk operations are more efficient. With the solution in place, Luottokunta has reduced administrative costs, while improving operational efficiency. As a result, employees who worked on fraud protection can now be redeployed to other areas of the business.

Customer experience is enhanced. Luottokunta can now provide customers with seamless, convenient experiences. Most importantly, they’re reassured of protection against fraudulent transactions. Customers have given positive feedback about using the new system, which has prompted Luottokunta to extend the solution to include additional services—for example, a BookIT mobile payment service.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published March 2011