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IndustryUpdate

tures such as encryption and multifactor authentication, Researchers cited inflation as the factor that impacted
the company stated. participants' finances the most. In addition, lack of
financial security has resulted in a significant decline in
RESEARCH work productivity, according to the study: 75 percent of
respondents said increasing financial stress is hamper-
ing their productivity at work, with nearly 30 percent of
Consumer optimism high, ACI finds respondents saying they spend one to two hours a day
on money worries, costing employers billions of dollars.
Despite a challenging economic environment, the 2022
holiday shopping season exceeded projections, accord- NCC examines ransomware attacks
ing to ACI Worldwide, a provider of real-time digital
payments solutions whose research analyzes millions A new Threat Pulse report from security consulting
of ecommerce transactions annually to assess year- firm NCC Group examined ransomware attacks dur-
over-year growth. From October through December ing December 2022. Among the key findings were that
2022, ecommerce transactions saw a 21 percent increase, December saw ransomware activity from cyber threat
beating estimates by 6 percent. Consumers spent more actor BlackCat surge 100 percent, with the highest
on gaming and travel, as both sectors saw a significant number of attacks the criminal group has undertaken
uptick in transaction volumes during Cyber Weekend in a single month; 269 ransomware attacks occurred in
2022. December, a 2 percent increase over November (at 265
attacks).
The gaming sector experienced a 153 percent increase
in transaction value, and the travel sector experienced a Researchers found this increase contradicts the patterns
57 percent increase. Meanwhile, the retail sector had a 4 observed in 2021 in which November and December
percent increase in volume over Cyber Weekend, driven experienced a decrease, attributed to a holiday period
by general retail, which saw a 14 percent increase, and slowdown, and we’re approaching the highest number
sports and athletic sales, which experienced a 13 percent of ransomware victims since the peaks reached in March
increase in transaction volume, ACI noted. and April 2022, illustrating major growth since the sum-
mer and autumn months, with a possible inclining trend
CEI examines customer engagement, analytics on the horizon.

The Customer Intelligence and Analytics market study, pub-
lished by research firm Customer Engagement Insider PARTNERSHIPS
found that despite recognizing the importance of data,
brands are struggling to capture, unify and operational- Factor4, CoCard team up on gift, loyalty
ize worthwhile customer insights. CEI also found that
the majority of customers surveyed do not feel their Factor4 LLC, a provider of gift card and loyalty solu-
interactions with brands are personalized, and they do tions, partnered with CoCard, a member-owned, mer-
not feel the agents with whom they spoke know or care chant-driven ISO. The partnership enables CoCard to
about them and their issues. offer their members omnichannel gift card and loy-
alty solutions to seamlessly process gift card and loyalty
Key topics in the report include the biggest data chal- transactions in-store, online and via mobile devices, the
lenges brands face; shocking statistics about the lack of partners stated.
a 'single source of CX truth'; insight on what the "voice
of the customer” really means in today’s landscape; and As one of the only companies that offers complete
the impact of customer intelligence gaps on employee omnichannel gift card and loyalty solutions, Factor4,
performance and engagement. they added, leads the gift card and loyalty industry in
strategic partnerships and was recognized in the United
SecureSave finds Americans States Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Intelligence
under duress due to inflation and Future Growth Dynamics -Q1 2022 Update report by
ReportsandMarkets.com.
New research from SecureSave revealed the impact
high inflation is having on Americans’ savings, with 67 Greenpenny, Jack Henry to power green energy
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