deVere and Wise AI launch selfie biometrics and ID check solutions to hot eKYC market

Independent financial advisory and tech wealth organization deVere is launching an onboarding verification app based on a biometric selfie and document capturing to meet what it characterizes as “soaring global demand.”

The Ident Me app uses a three-step process, in which pictures are taken of identity credentials like an ID card or passport, another picture of a document with an address on it, such as a utilities bill, and a selfie for facial recognition and liveness checking.

In addition to remote onboarding, the app includes a notary services function, when required, which deVere says is a first in the international financial services and fintech sector.

“There’s soaring global demand for fintech [financial technology] and it’s clear it is going to become an increasingly dominant part of our lives moving forward,” says deVere Group CEO Nigel Green.

“Indeed, fintech is already the ‘new normal’ as we increasingly insist on immediate, on-the-go, 24/7 access to, use and management of our money. We demand personalised, on-demand services and lower costs.”

“Against this backdrop of growing demand, we decided that we needed to make the set-up process of onboarding to use our fintech apps as quick, easy and secure as possible,” he continues.

“Ident Me is a hassle-free, simple and safe way for clients to provide identity verification for themselves via a KYC (Know Your Client) form.”

deVere also offers apps for trading and currency exchange and real-time investment monitoring, among other uses.

Wise AI tackles Malaysian eKYC market

Malaysia’s Wise AI has launched a new eKYC solution to enable banks to meet the requirements for remote customer onboarding.

The software is called ‘eKYC110,’ in reference to taking customers through the process in less than one minute, with a one-second authentication check and no human involvement on the back end.

Bank Negara Malysia, the country’s central financial institution, is drawing close to allowing eKYC for remote account opening by banks in Malaysia.

The company says its technology can help banks improve their conversion rates and lower costs, and that partners have seen application processing times drop by 95 percent. Wise AI provides end-to-end encryption for data transmitted to and from the cloud, and all processes and API resources are protected with tokenization. In addition to an API, a web SDK and Android SDK are also available.

So far, Wise AI has signed up a subsidiary of the central bank, as well as local banks and organizations in insurance, e-wallets, crowd-funding and the public sector.

Wise AI recently won a pair of awards in the Startup and R&D categories of the ASEAN ICT Awards, according to the report.

HSBC to remotely onboard small businesses with facial recognition

HSBC has extended its selfie biometric verification for mobile bank account opening in Hong Kong to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), South China Morning Post reports.

Accounts will be activated two to five days after the application process is completed, though an account number will be available right away. Previously, facial recognition could be used during the commercial account opening process, but applicants still had to visit a branch for signing and document checks.

HSBC says the new digital end-to-end process is the first of its kind.

Competitors Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Standard Chartered launched joint ventures that were among eight entities granted virtual banking licenses by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) last year, while HSBC did not apply. Two of the eight have launched, and SCMP reports that the added competition has put pressure on incumbents to improve their digital services.

HSBC says that web banking logins and transactions jumped by 50 percent from January to May, and mobile app downloads and transactions increased by 80 percent.

Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  fintech  |  HSBC  |  identity document  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  selfie biometrics  |  Wise AI