Fintech, investment companies choose remote biometrics for digital identity onboarding

French AI startup ubble has secured over €10 million (US$11.2 million) in funding led by Partech and Breega to invest in developing its remote digital identity verification product with biometric facial recognition and establish a leading presence in the industry, the company announced.

The team who founded ubble two years ago previously worked for Gemalto, Criteo and Google, respectively, and plans to grow its workforce by 15 members, according to tech.eu.

The product leverages live streaming video and AI to capture a live video of the user’s face and ID document. The algorithms will the analyze holograms, the plasticity and rigidity of IDs for authenticity and then use cross-matching. The work will be validated by ubble’s anti-fraud experts. The company claims its video technology is more effective in preventing identity theft.

ubble can be scaled across Europe, as it is GDPR and eIDAS compliant. Future plans for 2020 include ANSSI certification for the technology to deploy it in regulated French sectors. The company is already working with Carrefour Banque, Sofinco (Crédit Agricole Group), the neo-bank Kard, the VTC Heetch driver platform, and others.

ubble has also entered a partnership with French public investment bank Bpifrance, which chose the company’s online identity verification service to validate cash support loan applications amid the pandemic.

“This new fund raising and this project with Bpifrance are for us another step in the conquest of the European identity verification market,” said Juliette Delanoe, ubble co-founder, in a prepared statement. “We are confirming our desire to become a leader in French and European technology: combining cutting-edge technology, compliance with French and European regulations and respect for user data.”

Lanistar chooses Jumio’s identity verification technology for onboarding

Preparing to launch its polymorphic debit card this year, fintech company Lanistar has chosen Jumio’s biometric identity verification technology to streamline customer onboarding, meet regulatory compliance and prevent online fraud, the company announced.

Lanistar was established in Hammersmith, London in 2019 and its goal is to transform money management for customers aged 18-35 who expect fast account onboarding to become a £1 billion ($1.2 billion) company. Jumio’s ID Verification and Identity Verification will help Lanistar verify remote users during a streamlines onboarding process. Customers will provide a picture of their government ID and a selfie to certify liveness detection. This will confirm user identity and presence during the transaction.

“We’re excited to work with Jumio as we know they truly believe in our product and that they only want to work with the best companies,” said Gurhan Kiziloz, Lanistar CEO and founder, in a prepared statement. “Since we began talks of a partnership, they’ve been accommodating to our needs, ensuring they understood our requirements and could cater to them. We look forward to benefiting from their services.”

“Lanistar is precisely the type of disruptive fintech we enjoy partnering with. Their focus on leveraging game-changing technology to create a better customer experience is right in our sweet spot,” said Robert Prigge, Jumio CEO, in a prepared statement. “We’re happy to provide the leading-edge identity verification services that will quickly and securely vet the digital identities of new Lanistar customers.”

Indian asset manager uses Signzy’s video e-KYC to increase onboarding

Indian asset manager Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited has chosen Signzy’s AI video e-KYC system, already onboarding more than half a lakh (50,000) new investors during the COVID-19 lockdown, the company announced.

Signzy’s AI-powered RPA platform for financial services provides zero-contact, replacing the physical submission of KYC documents. Since it adopted the video e-KYC system last year, the company has onboarded nearly 100,000 investors since.

The video e-KYC system leverages AI and Machine Learning to replace document management. KYC applications can be submitted from a remote location, ensuring a fast onboarding experience. Now that SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has introduced the Aadhaar document & XML upload while doing KYC, the process should be easier because Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited’s application is included in the API framework for Aadhaar XML validation.

“The ongoing lockdown has made physical modes of submitting KYC applications inconvenient. With our already available Video e-KYC solution we have been able to win over this logistical challenge. This mode of onboarding is seeing rapid increase on a daily basis by our partners and investors,” A. Balasubramanian, managing director and CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC said in a prepared statement. “The number of registrations via Video e-KYC has more than doubled between January and April of this year. The adoption of technology across stakeholders will be central to the growth of the mutual fund industry, a need further amplified in the current environment.”

“We are excited to have partnered with Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC to support their customer onboarding using our industry leading Video KYC solution,” Arpit Ratan, co-founder of Signzy said. “This solution is designed to cut down time and costs for onboarding new customers while simultaneously delivering much superior customer experience. It also meets the strictest infosec regulations and data security requirements. Our collective goal is to bring awareness and importance to the idea of video-KYC and normalize digital banking for the benefit of both financial services providers and their customers.”