Checkout.com buying biometric ID verification startup ubble to secure online payments

British cloud payments company Checkout.com wants strong ID verification and more security from fraud for its clients, and it thinks it can get that by buying French selfie biometric video startup ubble.

Specifically, Checkout.com wants ubble’s flagship product, which records video of a user’s face and photo ID and analyzes it for biometric features and active liveness detection. Ultimately, AI-supported identity experts verify the video in minutes, the company says.

Checkout.com is motivated by growth in online transaction volumes, which means increased fraud, money laundering, and financial risk. Ubble’s software will also enable merchants and fintechs to stay compliant with local regulations around the world, an announcement states.

Ubble was founded in 2018, and has grown to nearly 100 employees, with customers in France’s fintech, ride-hailing and delivery industries, as well as among traditional banks.

“We were impressed with the ubble team, their ability to rapidly drive machine-learning innovation in a complex and challenging space, and their market-leading engineering team. By partnering more closely, we can significantly accelerate their already ambitious roadmap,” says Meron Colbeci, chief product officer of Checkout.com.

The deal faces regulatory approval, with ubble expecting it to close this year. Financial details have not been made public.

Juniper Research predicts that the use of software-based face biometrics to secure payment authentication will have more than doubled from 2020 to 2025, with 1.4 billion people using the algorithms to purchase goods by 2025.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  document verification  |  face biometrics  |  identity verification  |  selfie biometrics  |  ubble