Acquisitions see Moody’s bolster KYC, Sterling and Unico each expand across verticals

Several businesses are extending the reach of their digital identity capabilities or bringing them in-house with acquisitions. Moody’s strengthens its risk assessment tool offering for its customers with two European acquisitions, while Sterling moves into more markets by acquiring EBI and its client base while Brazil’s Unico takes the next pivot in its breakneck journey.

Moody’s acquires PassFort, agrees to buy Kompany to bolster KYC, compliance capabilities

Global risk assessment firm Moody’s has acquired UK-based identity verification firm PassFort Limited and has agreed to buy Austrian business verification and KYC firm 360kompany AG (Kompany) to enhance its customer solutions for KYC, AML and compliance in its Moody’s Analytics division.

PassFort provides a workflow platform for identity verification and customer onboarding. It hooks in with biometrics providers including Jumio, Onfido, GBG and Trulioo, draws data from more than 25 third-party provider and uses automation for the collection of data and storage of due diligence documentation on suppliers and customers.

Kompany maintains a primary source network to provide information on 115 million companies across 200 jurisdictions. The API is has developed will be used by Moody’s customers to complete real-time shareholder analysis and entity verification.

Sterling acquires Employment Background Investigations

Background check and identity services firm Sterling, which operates Sterling Identity, has acquired Employment Background Investigations (EBI) to expand its presence in areas including financial services, retail and healthcare in the U.S.

EBI performs background checks, drug testing and paperwork for blue chip clients which it will bring to SterlingCheck for its expanding talent acquisition and workforce management offerings. The all-cash deal is expected to add more than US$30 million in revenue in 2022, according to Sterling.

“All of us at EBI are very excited about this next phase for our company,” says Rick Kurland, CEO of EBI. “Sterling’s strategy and culture are a clear fit and we are looking forward to offering expanded solutions to our clients.”

Brazil’s Unico biometric unicorn buys SkillHub for edtech future

Startup and, as of August, a unicorn, Brazil’s Unico is already charting a new path by branching out again, not content simply to pursue digital identity and biometrics as a service to businesses. It has acquired SkillHub, an education benefits firm, reports Link.

Following a recent $120 million funding round for investment in proprietary technology and further acquisitions, Unico has made its third acquisition since becoming a unicorn.

The company intends to sell SkillHub’s education products and courses to its corporate client base of around 2 million employees across 400 companies. Digital identity still remains key to Unico as it is how it offers its services. It will form a marketplace of its customers to administer vouchers for staff to undergo training, potentially for a course they choose themselves.

“Our first business wasn’t even digital biometrics, which ended up becoming our main business after an acquisition. We want to be like Facebook, which bought Instagram and made it more valuable than even itself,” says Diego Martins, president of Unico, as quoted by Link.

Article Topics

background checks  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  document verification  |  face biometrics  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  onboarding  |  PassFort  |  Sterling Check  |  Sterling Identity  |  Unico