Acuant wins crypto selfie biometrics customer as financial service providers address market gaps

Acuant headlines a group of selfie biometrics and regulatory compliance providers announcing customer wins, which also includes Visa, Basis ID, iDenfy and OneConnect. Huawei is moving into the market through a partnership initiative, while several surveys and reports in different regions show that opportunities to improve financial services with digital ID remain.

Acuant selected by Bitpoint LATAM

Acuant will provide its face biometrics to help automate identity verification, know your customer (KYC) and anti money-laundering (AML) checks by Bitpoint LATAM.

Bitpoint LATAM allows users to exchange cryptocurrency for traditional government (or fiat, in crypto lingo) currencies, and selected Acuant to better support its users while meeting its regulatory compliance requirements, according to the company announcement. The companies are already partners, with Bitpoint using Acuant Compliance.

The no-code Acuant Go gives Bitpoint a scalable solution for biometric identity and document verification, and allowed Bitpoint to launch an expansion within three weeks, with user onboarding increasing by 98 percent.

“Since the beginning of our partnership with Acuant, the company’s robust compliance platform and state-of-the-art technology has continued to support BITPOINT as we pursued an ambitious growth plan in Latin America. While complying with regulatory requirements and keeping our users safe, we found a need to make their experience even easier,” comments Julián Guevo, compliance operations director at BITPOINT LATAM. “We are looking forward to continuing our work with Acuant and are thrilled with the results since integrating Acuant GO.”

“We’ve seen cryptocurrency adoption grow rapidly over the past few years as the currency has become more secure thanks to new regulations and requirements. At Acuant, we are always ensuring our customers are not only meeting compliance standards and preventing fraud, but also keeping their customers happy,” says Acuant President and CEO Yossi Zekri. “Our no code solution is providing this seamless onboarding experience while allowing businesses and organizations to keep up with rapid digital transformation in a way that no other offering in the market today can. We are delighted to continue our partnership with BITPOINT and see them grow.”

Security, regulatory onboarding challenges and customer wins around the world

Friction associated with digital identity checks by banks has already pushed 23 percent of UK consumers surveyed by FICO to a competitor. It is little surprise, therefore, that 79 percent are open to some use of biometric security, like the selfie biometrics typically used in financial services onboarding.

FICO finds that biometric technology is increasingly familiar to consumers, but banks must do a better job of explaining how it is used.

“Our data shows intuitive but flexible customer journeys are required,” says Matt Cox, vice president for fraud in EMEA at FICO. “Some people are happy to provide selfies, others want to scan documents. What individuals can do – or can be encouraged to do – is personal. This makes intuitive apps and education crucial if financial services providers are to be successful at new customer acquisition.”

Visa Commerce Authentication Service is being adopted by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) to secure ecommerce transactions with fingerprint and facial biometrics through the ADIB mobile application.

Huawei is moving into digital financial services as its core businesses struggle to mitigate the effects of U.S. sanctions, South China Morning Post writes.

The Chinese tech giant has formed a partnership with 25 companies providing software and fintech tools, and a Huawei representative told SCMP that “innovative scenario-based solutions,” which could involve technologies like facial recognition, are the key to staying ahead in the financial services market.

The security of digital ID systems is more important to 79 percent of financial services firms than acquiring new customers, according to a new survey from PYMNTS and Equifax.

The report shows 43 percent of firms plan to invest in authentication, and many see consumers’ lack of digital skills as a barrier to deploying new digital ID verification and authentication solutions.

Basis ID has partnered with Kemit Kingdom to support secure and compliant financial services for the ambitious Wakanda Messenger app.

Wakanda has been developed to meet the needs of the African community with social platform and financial service features.

Video KYC services are surging in India as the country’s BFSI sector undergoes rapid digital transformation, according to IDC. A new report from the market intelligence firm considers the prospects of HyperVerge, IDfy, Signzy, Syntizen, and WorkApps.

In Sri Lanka, Axion has been chosen by NBD Bank to deploy OneConnect’s video KYC technology with face biometrics for secure and seamless remote customer onboarding.

iDenfy’s selfie biometrics have been selected by Kazakhstan-based financial industry startup ITCS Trade Capital Ltd.

ITCS Trade seeks to provide streamlined trading and investment services with low fees and commissions. iDenfy will enable identity verification through face biometrics from any camera-ready and web-connected device.

Article Topics

Acuant  |  Basis ID  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  Huawei  |  iDenfy  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  no-code  |  onboarding  |  OneConnect  |  remote authentication  |  secure transactions  |  selfie biometrics  |  Visa