Author: David Froud

Let’s just start with the basics, money;

There are ~1.5 BILLION credit cards in the US, and a replacement card is between $3 – $5. So you’re looking at an expense between $4.5 and $7.5 billion for that alone.Now add into that the cost of replacing ~10 million payment terminals to ACCEPT the new cards, at a cost of ~$50 – $100 each (at the VERY minimum), and that price-tag goes up by another $0.5 – $1 billion. Finally, every bank must replace / upgrade their back-end systems to PROCESS these new transactions, and I’m not even going to try to guess the cost (it’s a lot).

Yes this will be spread out of a number of years, but that’s like saying you’d like to get punched in the mouth a little bit at a time. No alternative is pleasant.

Cost aside, why would the banks make this expense when the main driving factor behind EMV is being negated on a daily basis by innovations in payment technology? Innovations such as mobile payment applications, and far more secure alternatives to the Chip & PIN itself, will drive the US to abandon their plans for EMV in favour of solutions that have a far longer shelf-life, are more secure, include Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions (e.g. e-commerce), AND are not just a patch/fix to a 60+ year old technology.

The EMV concept itself was first put into real-world practice in France in 1992 – yes, 21 YEARS ago – and is now the de facto standard in over 100 countries globally. Except the US of course, who still rely on the magnetic strip first introduced by IBM in the 1960s.

This mag stripe method is the major cause of card-present (CP) fraud globally, which is why the US has been under increasing pressure to make the change. The issuing banks in the US, however, are very powerful in their own right, and have managed to delay things long enough to now have a valid reason to stop the plans altogether.

Good for them.

The need for PIN authentication will not go away any time soon, but the need for any payment terminal or payment application to ever SEE that number will. This is an enormous game-changer for both the banks, and the end users.

Chip & PIN transactions are cheaper than magnetic strip transactions for one reason; less fraud. However, you can’t use chip & PIN for e-commerce, where things like the CVV code, Verified by Visa, or 3-D Secure are used to similar, though limited, effect.

This restricts their usage to specific card brands, but this brave new world of innovation where the card brands are no longer the only game in town, a more ubiquitous PIN method is required that’s not only secure, but seamless, portable to legacy technologies, and affordable. Something like this; www.mypinpad.co.uk.

Suddenly:

  1. Expensive card-not-present transactions become cheaper card-present transactions saving millions for e-commerce;
  2. Legacy payment terminals that are not yet End of Life (EoL) can be kept, saving brick & mortar merchants millions;
  3. ATM payments become far less prone to fraud (under certain circumstances);
  4. Mobile payments become far more secure; and
  5. Liability shift is now firmly with the issuing banks

All of this is great stuff, and makes me wonder what’s next!

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19-Dec-19: Clearly I was way off the mark here, but I still think it was a mistake!

One of these days I will learn to do some proper research on my blogs in order to provide the links to materials that I only assume exists. I can say there are thousands of articles out there on presentation skills, and not quote a single one.

Not going to this time either, but when I type in ‘presentation skills tips’ into Google, I got 17.5M hits, so it’s out there.

This is not about HOW to present though, that’s been covered by people far better at it than me, this is about WHEN to present, or more specifically, when NOT to.

A phrase occurred to me today that I feel sure I’ve stolen (and more than likely corrupted) from someone else, but I can find it’s like;

“A good idea presented badly, is often less effective than a bad idea presented well.” 

To illustrate, I will go to the extremes.  Fascism is a VERY bad idea, but I know of two people in history that turned their entire countries to it.  Ending World hunger is a VERY good idea, but the altruistic pleas of those who dedicate their lives to it, fall on mostly indifferent ears.

How is this possible?  Well, the two Fascists I’m thinking of were incredibly charismatic (according to the history books), and understood human nature innately (exploitive).  The people who want to end world hunger are usually too busy working toward that goal to do the rounds, and the chances are, they are not much into oratory (givers).

Humans are basically good, and it’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we have our own lives to get through, and we are generally far more receptive to the concept of mutual benefit than we are towards ‘one sided’ charity.

So what does this have to do with presentations?  Let me ask you; Are you good at presenting, and do you enjoy it?

I can guarantee that more people THINK they are good at it than actually are, and that the ones that don’t enjoy it, never are.

So whom do you want presenting your business plan to angel investors?  Or whom do you want presenting your company’s proposal for a multi-million $/£/€ deal?  Right, someone who’s really good at it, but for some reason this is not always a prerequisite.

Presentation skills are up there with any skill you want for your business, from sales, to finance, to consultancy, to R&D, and should be every bit as important a entry on your CV/resume as your education and work experience.  Smart hirers even have their candidates perform a presentation during the interview process.  Candidates have 1 hour to create a 5 slide presentation, and 15 minutes to delivery it + Q&A.

I’m not saying don’t hire people who CAN’T present well, they may simply not have the experience, but you have to KNOW this both for your business’s sake, and the candidates.  If their job requires significant face-time with the client, the importance of presentation skills is almost paramount.

Every organisation needs a couple of people who are their ‘big guns’ in terms of presenting, and they should be brought out when the stakes are high.  Choosing your presenters by availability is asking for trouble.

If you are poor at presenting, this is the one time I will say work on your weakness, it will pay dividends.

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Odd title, but things that come to you in dreams about being a 60’s record producer, and you’re wearing bright red flares, tend to not be particularly normal.

But I’m awake now, and yes, I look awful in red polyester.

Aaaaaanyway, my first waking thought was that as negative as the title may seem, it’s actually all about opportunity.  How many people really look back at a spectacular fail in their lives, and accept 100% of the responsibility for it?  Too few I suspect, and they have missed a tremendous opportunity to improve their lives going forward.

It’s human nature to blame someone, or something else initially: bad timing, the market crashed, stiff competition, moron boss and a whole multitude of other excuses.  I chose the word excuses carefully, because that’s exactly what they are.

I’m not saying it’s always your fault, and I’m not talking about blame here, but accepting the RESPONSIBILITY for ALL of your failures is the only way to both move on, and learn from them.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”, George Santayana.

You get fired for mouthing off to your boss, and blame the boss?  Guess what’s going to happen next time?  You may have even been right, but you really only had two choices; stay where you are and try another angle to get what you want, or leave.  Mouthing off was not an option, at least not for that boss who held your career in their hands.  Or the next one probably.

Like it or not, as long as you ARE an employee, there will be people and situations in your life that frustrate you.  Quite often, the exact opposite of what you normally do might be the best next step; If you’re very aggressive, try being reasonable, if you’re passive, try being a little more assertive, and if you’re a lot better at your job than your boss (and they know it), try considering THEIR ego for a while.

If you can’t do these things – and I am a perfect example – you have no choice BUT to accept full responsibility.  For the good AND for the bad mind you.

And never, I mean NEVER go after revenge!  As tempting as it may be, and as satisfied as you will feel at the moment of ‘triumph’, you have just created an enemy, one who will have no problem exacting THEIR revenge at some point down the road. They may also be better at it than you.

After all, the best revenge really is becoming more successful (in whatever way YOU measure success) than those you left behind.

I would be an incredible hypocrite if was to lecture anyone on being a saint, but I can at least accept full responsibility for everything that’s ever happened to me.  I take pride in my successes, and laugh at my abject failures …eventually.

I could list a thousand trite quotes like; The Chinese word for crisis is also the word for opportunity , blah, blah, blah…. this isn’t even true by the way

I prefer the much simpler; Accept it, and move on.

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As I’m writing this, I’m trying to decide what my own thoughts are on the matter. Intellectually I probably don’t care that much, but emotionally, I can’t help but think it’s a bad thing.

Background: My wife made what I thought was a wise-crack the other day, that it was actually faster to get a response to a customer service issue if you post something negative on social media, than it is if you call their toll-free number.

She wasn’t joking, and proved it.

A very large retailer had screwed up, not once, but twice, and she spent a long time on the phone trying to sort it out. Naturally, the support centre was based in India, out-sourced, and had no real concept of the original business outside of their database of questions. Long and short; she got nowhere.

The next day, she vented her frustration on Twitter, and within a few hours, a representative from the company HQ contacted her and the issue was resolved that day.

What I took from this is that it’s more important to give the perception of good customer service, than it is to actually give it. As long as no-one knows that your customer service sucks, people will keep buying, and you can keep saving money by outsourcing.

My dilemma is that I can’t decide if I care that the good customer service is genuine, or if the fact that it’s forced now makes it intolerable. Would I really make the fairly significant effort to go to a competitor just because the first vendor doesn’t really care?

I think the answer is yes, I would, because it’s not just about customer service, it’s about how business is done properly. Customer Service is most often associated with reacting when things go wrong, but it’s far more than that. The term ‘business partner‘ sums it up nicely as it’s supposed to be a partnership, not just a business deal, and is only at its best when it’s also pro-active, personal, performed with genuine empathy, and mutually beneficial.

I think what I’m really saying is customer service simply cannot be outsourced. I know it’s very expensive, but perhaps the following may help to offset it;

For one week in every year, EVERY member of staff, from Finance to Sales, from Marketing to IT, works in customer service. This includes the CEO, even the Board of Directors. EVERYONE!

Benefits:

  1. If the CEO talks to real-world customers, as well as sees what goes on every day in the support centre, they will have a much better idea of where his/her company may have gone astray. The CEO is the one responsible for the culture and priorities, so it would be good for them to be reminded of what’s most important;
    o
  2. Sales people often forget what it is they are supposed to be selling, which in almost every company is either a solution to problem, or something someone wants personally. The week they spend in customer service will help them reconnect with their target audience;
    o
  3. Product and Service developers often get too caught up in their day jobs to really understand what it is they are supposed to be developing. Hearing client problems and confusion every day for a week should help to clarify things for them, and maybe even give them ideas for innovation;
    o
  4. Marketing departments too often rely on their previous experience and/or education, so a few angry clients should do wonders for their clarity too, as well as give them ideas for future marketing concepts;
    o
  5. Ancillary departments like finance, IT etc should all have their go too, every employee is part of the culture of a company, everyone must be on the same page, as well as see the impact they are having first hand.

Passion and motivation are hard to maintain if you don’t know where you’re going, or worse, don’t agree with what you’re doing. I think a unified focus on customer service goes a long way to ensuring everyone stays on track.

Of course, your CEO may be a utterly incompetent at dealing with people, but if he/she loses a few clients from poor customer service – their own! – they will probably get the message 🙂

Anyone know any good studies on the effect of social media or outsourcing on customer satisfaction?

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That may seem like an aggressive statement, but the only way you will ever get the privacy you want is if you don’t put anything out there. No mobile phone, no email, no Facebook, no Twitter, and no browsing. Nothing. Shop at brick-and-mortar, do your banking in person, and if you want to talk to someone, call from a land-line. Maybe you can write them a letter, if you can trust the Post Office.

As I have already said in a number of posts, if you want ANY of the convenience that your mobile phone or the Internet provides, you pay a price in loss of personal privacy. Did you really think it was free? Or worse, do you actually EXPECT it to be free? You want all the benefits and none of the downside?

We have an expectation that it’s the government’s responsibilities to protect its citizens, from either external aggressors, or internal threats. How do you expect them to do that if they don’t at least TRY to do the same things the bad guys do? It’s called testing. As far as I am concerned, they can take whatever data of mine they like, as long as they do nothing with it other than work out how to plug the holes.

And if you’re worried that the government might use your data against you, what exactly are you doing?

Should there be more oversight? More transparency? Probably, but do you WANT to let the bad guys know how we’re catching them?

Question: Whom would you rather find a cancerous tumor in your body, a doctor, or a coroner? The doctor will be every bit as invasive, but will do so to save your life. You trust them, right?

OK, so that’s a little dramatic, and the other side of the analogy is excessive, but I think it makes the point. I WANT the government to find the holes before the bad guys do, because the bad guys have no rules whatsoever. They will steal from you, ruin your life, or whatever takes their fancy, and then not give you another thought unless it’s to laugh about how you made things so easy for them.

Businesses hire ‘bad guys’ all the time to test their systems, they are called ethical hackers. Same mind-set as a bad guy with one twist; they are there to help fix the problem, not exploit it.

Was Prism so different? They have no choice BUT to sift through everyone else’s data to find the ones who are doing bad things. Can you think of a better way of doing it? Seriously, if you can, I’d love to hear it, it will have far-reaching impact on the way security professionals think / work and should be heard.

It’s fairly clear which side I’m on, and this really is a issue with only 2 sides; for, and against the monitoring our private information. What’s needed now is a guest post from someone who is on the other side of the fence, maybe even a lawyer, and that’s all I can tell you about them or they’ll beat me up.

Let the debate begin!!

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