Plaid doubles down on identity verification as businesses seek compliance improvements

Global payments processor Plaid will now allow users to verify their identity across any service powered by Plaid.

This means, as per a blog post by the company, that users who have been previously verified by Plaid can sign up for new financial applications without going through another identity and verification process.

Once Plaid confirms the user is who they claim to be via carrying security checks on their phone number and mobile device, the company will then “fast-track” their new application by enabling them to review and submit their saved identity information for verification.

The company clarifies that just because a user has successfully verified their identity before with Plaid, this does not guarantee they will get the same outcome with any additional future verifications with other third-party apps.

Plaid claims that if necessary, it will run new checks according to business-specific requirements against the consumer’s provided information, including data like device history, data sources like mobile network operators, and input behavior.

The company claims it has seen an average opt-in rate of 70 percent so far for the new capability, and that it on average cuts the time it takes to complete the verification process in half.

Plaid does not provide exact lists of user numbers or customers, but the company claims to have integration with over 11,000 banks and over 11 million custom accounts connected, with clients including Google and Microsoft.

The new no-code integration is currently available to interested businesses.

The announcement comes after the payments giant first introduced biometrics into its identity verification solution for onboarding back in March 2022.

There is plenty of room for better verification processes to take root, at least according to new research by First AML, which surveyed 250 UK business leaders.

The survey found 76 percent of respondents think that there is room for improvement within their company’s AML compliance.

However, 60 percent of the companies surveyed struggled to keep up to date with changes in anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

In addition, four out of five respondents (81 percent) have observed an increase in time and cost associated with AML compliance in the past year. And (53 percent) of front-line compliance staff in businesses spend over half of their time on the KYC process.

Customer wins for Signzy, Shufti Pro, iDenfy

Indian bank Axis Bank is working with digital banking infrastructure provider Signzy for its new digital customer onboarding system, which includes video KYC.

The bank’s new platform, dubbed Sarathi, allows retail merchants to register and install an Axis Bank Electronic Data Capture (EDC) or Point of Sale (POS) device to start accepting digital payments.

Sarathi’s onboarding workflow was designed using Signzy’s No-Code AI platform and utilizes several of the company’s APIs, to perform tasks such as database checks and live video KYC.

Axis Bank’s video KYC solution reportedly includes end-to-end encryption for video, channel, and communication, uses forensics for ‘spoofed’ or pre-recorded video detection, and also conducts real-time digital forensics checks on the displayed ID proof.

The entire onboarding process is entirely paperless and can supposedly be completed within 45 minutes, and the solution is supposedly capable of matching the face on the ID with the face in the live video.

Identity verification firm Shufti Pro has partnered with Dacodasoft, an online marketplace for freight exchange services.

Dacodasoft claims to serve over 16,000 companies and to help transport 9 million goods annually, connecting road freight transport operators and traders. The company has separate subsidiaries both for its operations in and its operations outside of Romania.

The announcement highlighted the vulnerability of the transport industry to fraud, including identity theft, and said that the new integration will enable Dacodasoft to implement a KYC solution that enables a secure and trustworthy platform for companies and individuals to connect with reliable transportation service providers.

Shufti Pro is not the only digital identity company that has unveiled new partnerships in recent weeks.

iDenfy has inked a new partnership with crypto and financial services firm P100.

Following the new integration, iDenfy’s technology will look to verify users’ identities and will conduct cross-checks against sources such as global sanctions lists, watchlists, and politically-exposed person (PEP) lists during the new account creation process.

iDenfy’s AML screening solution will then supposedly provide ‘instant’ notifications to P100, alerting them if a customer belongs to a high-risk category, including being on a sanctions list or being a known money launderer.

With this partnership, P100 aims to enhance its anti-money laundering program without adding friction to the end-user.

As a result, P100 can take proactive steps to prevent these customers from opening an account.

Article Topics

AML  |  First AML  |  iDenfy  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  onboarding  |  Plaid  |  selfie biometrics  |  Shufti Pro  |  Signzy