Whatever your business, the experience you provide consumers is central to your success. Companies that find ways to improve that experience often outshine the rest. RewardExpert recently spoke with Entrust Datacard CMO Karen Kaukol about the organization’s solutions and how businesses around the world are using them to improve service, create trust and increase revenue.
A 50-Year History
CMO at Entrust Datacard
Entrust Datacard was founded in 1969 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“Our founders were trying to solve a problem in the payments industry,” Kaukol explained. “At the time, credit cards were just beginning to take off and the demand for them was growing. A way was needed to personalize and produce credit cards at high speed and with high quality, so our founders created the machines to customize and print them.”
Over the 50 years since, Entrust Datacard’s services have evolved to include physical identity solutions –such as employee ID badges, passports and government IDs– as well as digital security solutions. The company employs more than 2,000 professionals in 34 locations around the world, issues more than 10 million identity and payment credentials daily and manages billions of transactions annually.
Engage Customers and Expand Market Share
Entrust Datacard’s customers span a wide range of markets including financial institutions, retailers and consumer marketers as well as digital business, healthcare, telecommunications and government agencies. Within the financial and retail industries, the company’s customers are generally utilizing Entrust Datacard’s solutions to engage consumers, build their brands and expand their market share.
“In the financial and retail space particular, we’re a well-known name worldwide for providing personalization and smart card production solutions,” Kaukol said. “Our latest offering in this arena is our print on demand solution. Our customers can print any high-quality image they want on a credit or debit card on demand.”
Entrust Datacard customers can also customize the direct marketing pieces that are wrapped around such cards when they’re sent to consumers in the mail. “It’s a high-quality representation of their brand,” Kaukol added.
For customers who want to satisfy today’s market demands for instant gratification, Entrust Datacard also has an Instant Card Issuance solution. It enables financial institutions and retailers to put ready-to-use credit and debit cards into consumers’ hands in mere minutes and can have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line. Entrust Datacard’s data show that 82 percent of these ready-to-use cards are activated (versus 50 percent with other delivery methods) and transaction volume increases by a count of 10 over the first 30 days.
“We have over 35,000 banks and retail locations worldwide using the solution,” Kaukol said. “It’s a solution we pioneered about 15 years ago and are really proud to be an innovator in that space.”
Secure Data and Build Trust
As the world has become increasingly digital and ecommerce has expanded, so have business’s security concerns. “It seems like there’s a report of a new data breach somewhere in the world every day,” Kaukol said. “Consumers are now concerned about where their personal information is and how it’s being protected.”
She noted that Entrust Datacard has added a suite of solutions to address these concerns. “From digital certificates to consumer authentication, these solutions offer the secure storage and transmission of data so you can have total confidence that your information is protected with the latest and greatest encryption technology whether you’re crossing the border, logging in at work, or doing business with a bank or other key ecommerce retailer.”
Kaukol said that some of the biggest entities in the world are using Entrust Datacard’s digital solutions. “This includes 26 governments and NASA as well as some of the very best and biggest companies that are onboard using our technology. That’s something we’re really proud of because we know how seriously governments take big data protection. For them to give us a vote of confidence says a lot.”
Innovation Will Continue
Kaukol said that Entrust Datacard is continually refining and improving its technology as well as innovating new solutions in physical and digital identity. She added that customers can expect new products this year, though she declined to elaborate on the details.
“Our customers know we invest in quality and in innovation,” she added. “They can count on getting the very best solutions from Entrust Datacard.”