In 2023, Americans reported over one million cases of identity theft to the FTC. Financial identity theft is the most common form of identity theft—it occurs when someone misrepresents someone else’s identity as their own to apply for a loan or credit card. When fraud happens, consumers are protected from liability by federal law, while banks and merchants are stuck footing the bill. After banks make the consumer whole again, they often look to merchants for reimbursement.
Badcock Furniture in Florida, a chain of 10 family-owned furniture stores between Northend Beach and Miami, experienced an increase in bank chargebacks for loans and credit cards issued based on fraudulent or stolen IDs.
Preventing Fraudulent Transactions
Badcock Furniture averaged a few fraudulent transactions a year, but at the start of 2024, the number was on the rise. The increase in fraudulent transactions led Carlos Sanchez, Director of Informational Technology at Badcock Furniture, to revisit his prior research of ID management solutions.
“We were balancing between the cost of having an identity management company versus not doing anything,” shared Carlos. “A year ago, we did an initial search for companies that could help us with our problem, but we decided that we did not need it at that time.”
As the number of customers using fraudulent IDs started to grow, Badcock Furniture needed a reliable solution to validate customer IDs that went beyond age verification. The store needed to be certain customer IDs were valid, ensuring they issued lines of credit to legitimate customers. Sanchez narrowed down the search to two companies — Veridocs and a competitor.
“The features between the two companies were similar, but what caught my attention was how Veridocs treated us. They were responsive, friendly, and customer service oriented, which I love,” Sanchez said. The Badcock Furniture IT team personally installed the ID authentication technology at all stores and one warehouse location in a matter of days. The user-friendly interface made authenticating IDs easy.
Going Above and Beyond
Badcock Furniture put Veridocs’ customer service to the test shortly after installation when a storm disrupted an automatic software update at two store locations and resulted in a system error. “We had set up the devices to download updates automatically, but this update was larger than usual,” Sanchez explained. “During the update, a storm knocked out power, and the devices wouldn’t reconnect. We thought maybe the update was corrupt.”
Concerned the issue could spread to other stores, the team immediately contacted Veridocs. “They assigned someone to our case right away, and he was incredibly patient, guiding us through the steps. We had the problem fixed by the same day.” Sanchez recalled.
The company went beyond troubleshooting by offering extra equipment to ensure backup support. “I only had one spare device, but they offered to send me four more, no questions asked,” Sanchez added. “It was a level of service I’d never experienced before.”
U.S. Based Customer Service
Veridocs enabled Badcock Furniture to confidently extend credit to legitimate customers. The technology quickly identifies discrepancies within IDs, including hidden security features and barcodes, and securely stores ID images for several days before moving them to an encrypted server.
The ID authentication technology solved Badcock Furniture’s main issue, but Veridocs’ responsive customer service fostered the relationship. When faulty barcodes on a batch of state-issued Florida IDs caused issues, Veridocs immediately clarified the error, allowing Badcock to verify legitimate customers without delays. “They responded right away,” Sanchez shared. “That level of service makes all the difference.”
Since the installation of Veridocs ID authentication technology at Badcock Furniture stores, the company has not experienced any chargebacks related to the use of fake IDs. Badcock Furniture found a partner committed to both accurate and reliable identity management and exceptional customer support — a powerful combination for tackling financial identity theft.
