In many processes, such as credit card fraud detection or direct-to-consumer marketing, the volume of transactions makes automation essential, and as a consumer you probably take it for granted. If these decisions aren't made well, waste will occur. Expensive marketing materials designed to attract new customers might be sent to existing customers, offers might be made to people unlikely to accept them, and fraud will go undetected. In addition, these decisions often must be made in a narrow time frame, which essentially forces automation; customers expect credit card approvals while they wait, for example. Automating decisions allows most transactions to be processed quickly and accurately. These kinds of systems already use an EDM approach.