Monzo, the fast-growing U.K. challenger bank that recently soft-launched in the U.S., is disclosing a potential, albeit relatively limited, security oversight that saw customer PINs stored incorrectly within the company’s internal systems. (more…)
Meeting a consumer’s banking needs requires FIs to think locally — but when it comes to fighting fraud, it pays to think globally. That’s why FIs need to stay ahead of fraud trends both domestically and internationally, says Nicolas Kopp, U.S. CEO for German challenger bank N26. In the latest Digital Fraud Tracker, Kopp discusses how N26 is using customer data from 24 countries to better protect users against fraud attacks as it enters the U.S. market. (more…)
The to-do list for any financial executive is surely daunting. From navigating technology changes to managing talent effectively, there’s many initiatives competing for attention.
One issue that’s been in the headlines for many years is anti-money laundering (AML). When criminals are able to successfully hide the illicit origins of their cash, both the financial institution and society suffer. So, what makes AML more important now than it has been in the past? (more…)
At the end of July 2019, the leading KYC service provider in Asia and Europe, BASIS ID, will release a new widget, designed to improve user experience of interacting with the KYC procedure. What does this mean for users and what can it offer to customers?
A new widget for going through the verification process was created to increase the conversion during the KYC procedure. This means that it must solve two problems. Firstly, it must be simple, so that users do not abandon the process in the middle because they don’t understand what is required from them or what to expect from this procedure. Secondly, it must be pushing users to move forward in the process of providing data, so that they would convert into customers of various services instead of people, who have dropped out during KYC. This way service providers can be certain that they spend resources on acquiring real users. (more…)
via PYMNTS
Trulioo, which focuses on global identity verification, said Wednesday (July 10) that it now is able to verify customers in new countries, including Bahrain, Iceland, Qatar and Georgia.
The company said in a press release that it is able to verify customers in those countries through GlobalGateway, its marketplace of identity data and services. (more…)
via PYMNTS
Six major banks in the Nordic region will form a customer checking center to help combat money laundering and improve the reputation of the area’s financial institutions, according to a report by Reuters.
The banks involved will be Danske Bank, Swedbank Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and DNB. The banks said the KYC Utility would gather know your customer (KYC) checks to start with at large and medium-sized companies in the region, and also start offering commercial services.
Money laundering is a big concern for the region after Danske Bank and Swedbank were implicated in scandals that cost them both billions in their value on the market. (more…)
via FinTech Futures
SmartSearch says it is currently the only organisation in the UK with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the UK and internationally, all in a single platform via a browser or API, with full sanction, politically exposed persons (PEP) and adverse media screening and then ongoing monitoring. (more…)
via PYMNTS
The last thing anyone wants to hear from a financial organization is that the people tasked with risk management are feeling less than confident about their ability to do the job — because they aren’t sure if their data is good. If the risk experts aren’t feeling confident, it is difficult to know how anyone else in an organization will.
However, in flipping through the latest edition of the PYMNTS AML/KYC Tracker, a collaboration with Trulioo, there is a lot of data to suggest that this is the situation in many organizations.
About 29 percent of banks have not implemented know your customer (KYC) tools or external data providers across the customer life cycle. In addition, 69 percent of crypto exchanges lack “complete and transparent” KYC and customer due diligence processes, and 71 percent of trade providers have cited compliance limitations and inadequate KYC practices as key factors in driving trade finance rejection rates. Perhaps most worryingly, 63 percent of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance professionals said they lack confidence in their data. (more…)
via Biometric Update
Customers of the Bank of Thailand will be able to use biometrics for identity verification when opening deposit accounts by the third quarter of this year to boost security, build consumer confidence, and improve access to financial services, according to the Bangkok Post.
The central bank is planning to gradually open up biometric technology to financial institutions for electronic know your customer (e-KYC) processes. Technology for facial and fingerprint recognition is being tested in a regulatory sandbox, with the tests scheduled for completion in Q3, according to Siritida Panomwan Na Ayudhya, assistant governor of the bank’s payment systems policy and financial group. (more…)
via CoinGeek
Exchanges that are a little too lax on their anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) protections will need to start paying more attention. Japan, one of the world’s leaders in cryptocurrency regulation since the fall of Mt. Gox, looks to focus on these areas even more this year in an effort to grow up the industry.
Japanese outlet Nikkei reports the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is “taking a hard look at cryptocurrency exchanges.” This comes as a G20 meeting will visit the country on June 28 and 29, and the FSA is expected to undergo an inspection by the global body’ Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to see how its performing. (more…)
via American Banker
The German smartphone bank backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Li Ka-shing has been ordered to bolster safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Germany’s financial regulator told N26 to “take appropriate internal safety measures” and “comply with general customer due diligence obligations.” The measures are likely to lead to higher security costs.
BaFin also said in the order, publicly released on Wednesday, that the lender must “remove backlogs in IT monitoring” and “ensure the existence of an adequate personnel and technical-organisational equipment in order to comply with its obligations under money laundering law.” (more…)
via Venture Beat
Online data breaches are on the rise, and it’s no great mystery why. In a recent survey conducted by LastPass, 59% of respondents said they reused passwords across multiple accounts and more than half said they hadn’t changed their password in the past year. About 95% of cybersecurity breaches are attributable to human errors like these, in fact, and malicious hackers are taking full advantage: It’s estimated that there’s a cyberattack every 39 seconds on average.
Bellevue, Washington-based identity-as-a-service startup Auth0 intends to reverse the trend, and it’s raising capital as it acts on its plans. The six-year-old company today announced that it has secured $103 million in series E financing led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, K9 Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Meritech Capital, Telstra Ventures, and World Innovation Lab. The cash infusion values Auth0 at $1 billion, and it brings its total capital raised to about $210 million. (more…)
via Finovate blog
Financial crime specialist TruNarrative is partnering with identity verification innovator Jumio to bolster its fraud detection and customer onboarding platform. The integration will enable TruNarrative’s existing customers and prospects to verify the authenticity of more than 3,300 ID document types from more than 200 countries and territories. (more…)
via Forbes
Accenture recently issued its annual Compliance Risk Study to gain insight into the different strategies that firms are pursuing to create compliance functions that meet the demands of a rapidly changing financial services industry.
Facing regulatory pressure and seeking to regain customers’ trust, financial institutions have spent heavily on compliance in the ten-plus years since the global financial crisis of 2008. This year, however, we are seeing a shift away from spending to meet regulatory needs to a focus on aligning compliance with growth initiatives – and to take advantage of technological innovation to automate some of the more basic compliance functions, relieving some of the pressure on firms to find, train and retain scarce talent. (more…)
Almost three in four banks in Asia Pacific anticipate that fraud in their country will increase in 2019, according to a recent poll by FICO.
Two of the main areas of concern are card-not-present fraud and application fraud. Card-not-present payments are concerns are fueled largely by the fact that over 50% global online retail sales came from Asia Pacific in 2018.
Dan McConaghy, President of FICO in Asia Pacific shared that it is precisely due to such reasons that banks need to use AI and machine learning to combat the increased fraud risk. (more…)
via FinTech Futures
Varo Money, the US challenger bank, has selected NICE Actimize to implement its financial crime strategy for anti-money laundering (AML) protections, including know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring capabilities.
Varo will integrate NICE Actimize’s AML Essentials, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) AML solution that detects and scores a range of banking activities, including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, watch list filtering and Suspicious Activity Report (or SAR) filings. (more…)
via MarkTechPost
Artificial Intelligence is considered the next big thing when it comes to tech products and trends that will lead humanity to the next global revolution. But, apart from the ability of Facebook to determine the face of your friends in an uploaded image and incorporation of AI to suggest search engine results on Google, there is still to be seen a real-life application of Artificial Intelligence that can benefit individuals and businesses alike and we think there is no better contender for this, except for Identity Verification services. They cannot only deter online frauds and scams, but they can play a pivotal role in making payment frauds a thing of the past if used with appropriate intelligence. (more…)
via Finovate blog
A new strategic partnership between FICO and Equifax will help financial institutions better manage risk, marketing, and fraud. The two companies have introduced the Data Decisions Cloud: an end-to-end data and analytics suite that integrates Equifax Ignite, a data and analytics management solution, with FICO Cloud applications and Decision Management Suite, FICO’s digital decisioning platform. (more…)
via FinTech Futures
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has selected Everest, a California-based firm that uses blockchain for know-your-customer (KYC) purposes, to fix a cross-border issue in Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.
The contract with ADB was signed on 1 March this year, with the implementation starting immediately and expected to be finished in Q3 of this year, Everest CEO and co-founder Bob Reid tells FinTech Futures. Everest was granted the contract after the call for proposals by ADB was made in October. (more…)
via PYMNTS
Only 1 percent of proceeds from financial crimes are intercepted, which means the bad guys are getting away with hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions. Trulioo General Manager Zac Cohen tells Karen Webster that AML and KYC efforts can be enhanced if FIs think of compliance as a revenue generator, and seek partnerships with tech-nimble firms in a sandbox environment.
via TechCrunch
Apple’s new credit card has a curious security feature that will make it much more difficult to carry out credit card fraud.
The aptly named Apple Card is a new credit card, built into your iPhone Wallet app, which the company says will help customers live a “healthier” financial lifestyle. The card is designed to replace your traditional credit card and give you perks, such as daily cash. Chief among the benefits is a range of security and privacy features, which Apple says — unlike traditional credit card providers — the company doesn’t know where a customer shopped, what they bought or how much they paid. (more…)
via The Daily FT
Technical advancement in transaction monitoring and futuristic risk-based approach of Clari5 AML system to help Sri Lanka achieve discipline in global financial space.
Jumio, the leading AI-powered trusted identity as a service provider, today announces the launch of Jumio Screening. This is a fully automated anti-money laundering (AML) screening solution that integrates ComplyAdvantage, a dynamic real-time database of people and companies that pose financial crime risk. (more…)
via TechCrunch
Digital identity startup Passbase has bagged $600,000 in pre-seed funding led by a group of business angel investors from Alphabet, Stanford, Kleiner Perkins and EY, as well as seed fund investment from Chicago-based Upheaval Investments and Seedcamp.
The 2018-founded Silicon Valley-based startup is building what it dubs an “identity engine” to simplify identity verification online.
Passbase offers a set of SDKs to developers to integrate into their service facial recognition, liveness detection, ID authenticity checks and ID information extraction, while also baking in privacy protections that allow individual users to control their own identity data. (more…)
via Tech in Asia
Grab announced today that it will open its internally developed fraud-prevention technology to third parties, enabling its strategic partners and others to combat online fraud.
Named Grab Defense, the suite of tools and APIs is built around the app’s treasure trove of data and its experience in tackling ride-hailing fraud. (more…)
via Forbes
European anti-money laundering legislation means customers and businesses are required to provide potentially sensitive documentation to prove their identities. But how safe are the methods of sharing and storing those documents? Are these attempts to strengthen security creating security and privacy risks of their own?
Right now, we’re stuck with a system that forces customers to duplicate key processes, and means sensitive personal documents are stored in multiple locations with multiple services. That’s a poor experience for customers. More seriously, it greatly increases the risk of data breaches. Recent years have proved – with increasing frequency – just how urgent those risks are. (more…)
via TechCrunch
Security breaches, where malicious hackers obtain snippets of information that then get used to impersonate individuals in order to gain access to individuals’ and businesses’ sensitive financial and other private information, have become par for the course in the world of digital services. More than 2.7 billion records were breached in a single incident this year in the US, and overall the damage from incidents like these potentially runs into the trillions of dollars globally.
Today, a startup called Onfido, which uses AI techniques combined with human verifiers to efficiently verify people are who they say they are when using digital services — is today announcing $50 million in funding to help address that ongoing — and growing — problem. (more…)
