ID R&D voice biometrics boost Thales call center solutions with seamless fraud protection

Thales has tapped ID R&D to supply voice biometrics for onboarding and authentication to its Trusted Digital Identity Service Platform, in response to growing demand from mobile operator call centers to combat identity fraud while still providing seamless customer experiences.

The new capability further strengthens the Thales Trusted Digital Identity Platform, according to the announcement, complementing its identity document verification and biometrics including facial and fingerprint recognition. The addition of voice biometrics enables call center operators to move away from ineffective and frustratingly time-consuming knowledge-based authentication (KBA) questions.

The automated voice matching solution from Thales, powered by ID R&D, requires no input from or training for call center staff.

Fraudsters attempting to impersonate legitimate customers can be detected through rapid comparison of callers’ voices with the stored voiceprints of known malicious actors and individuals associated with suspicious call patterns. Legitimate customers can also be seamlessly authenticated with voice biometrics, which further enables personalized service offers.

A recent implementation of Thales voice biometrics by a leading mobile operator was successful enough at identifying fraudulent calls that it is being extended to existing user authentication processes to replace logins and passwords, while complying with local privacy regulations.

“Fraudsters are now targeting more and more remote channels like call centers to impersonate legitimate customers,” states Thales VP Mobile Connectivity Solutions Guillaume Lafaix. “But the unique characteristics of the voice therefore represent a powerful asset to fight those types of fraud. Captured effortlessly at enrolment, voice biometrics also establish a pathway for enhancing the long-term customer experience.”

NIST’s 2019 Speaker Recognition Evaluation (SRE): Conversation Telephone Speech (CTS) Challenge confirmed the high accuracy of ID R&D’s voice biometrics.

“ID R&D provides a new generation of voice biometrics that enables superior security and better user experiences. Partnering with Thales to detect and avoid fraud without imposing friction on customers and without giving any clues to fraudsters is exciting,” comments ID R&D CEO Alexey Khitrov. “With this solution, we offer mobile operators a strong case for deploying voice biometrics to stop fraud during new subscriber enrolment and subsequently strengthen ongoing authentication.”

ID R&D was acquired by Mitek in a $49 million deal just weeks ago.

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  call centers  |  fraud prevention  |  ID R&D  |  identity verification  |  personalization  |  Thales  |  Thales Digital Identity and Security  |  voice biometrics