BAI’s Payments Connect conference, which opens Sunday in San Diego, perfectly illustrates the quandary facing banks looking to expand their online presence — how to accomplish that without throwing the door wide open to fraud.
Easy enough in the traditional banking world — require that any new account be opened in person at a branch where the applicant’s identification documents can be verified by a bank officer.
Great, but what about the proverbial millennial who would rather have a root canal than go to a bank branch? (To the best of our knowledge, no millennial has been identified who has experienced both a root canal and a sales pitch by a teller recently press-ganged into a marketing role at a bank branch.)
So no surprise the fraud, or more accurately anti-fraud, agenda at BAI Payments Connect seeks to accommodate payment innovation with risk management.
“It’s the perfect storm – the desire for consumers to have 24/7 access, the proliferation of new technology and the increased agility and success of fraudsters have culminated in greater, ongoing regulatory oversight and complexity,” reads the description for a session on regulatory requirements for Cyber Security.
An easy and ‘branch visit – free’ way to sign up new customers
With more customer acquisition and payments moving to mobile, verifying exactly “who” you’re dealing with is more important than ever. Mitek, which powers about 99 percent of the remote deposit capture (but hey, who’s counting?) used in the U.S. today, now offers Mobile Verify, which can authenticate almost all U.S. driver’s licenses with a smartphone, and then match that to a selfie.
Voilà! An easy way to sign up new customers without requiring them to have a root canal OR a branch visit.
Mitek’s Verify™ technology, MiSnap, uses advanced computer vision to instantly find and decode an enhanced security feature embedded in most U.S. driver licenses. When this security feature is detected, the license is 100% authentic – this means zero false positives. For global brands, Mobile Verify can also validate the authenticity of more than 3,500 ID documents.
The person seeking to prove her or his identify to take a selfie, and send it along with the driver’s license image to the bank, retailer, government agency or lottery office asking for proof.
The consumer simply snaps a selfie and Mitek’s advanced technology compares it to photo on ID documents adding a second factor of identity verification. So photo is taken at time of transaction and compared to photo on DL or other ID document.
There it is, an answer to the issue of remote authentication from the company that brought you Remote Deposit Capture.
Some tips to get your ID verification selfie right
To allow brands to verify that the person holding the government issued ID documents is the same one applying for product/services, the selfie used for facial comparison technology needs to fulfill certain criteria.
So, some tips to take a great – and valid - selfie in a wink:
- Clear lighting – don´t be shy, you look great under natural light!
- Plain background - even if you are in the most picturesque environment, your selfie needs to be compared to that serious-looking picture you have stamped on your driving license, so play it safe
- Take a ‘selfish selfie’ - just one person per photo
- Think like a pro – create your stage thinking of the photos you would need for your passport or driving license
Here the challenges are fairly clear — reducing the submissions to a single selfie, preferably with clean lighting rather than the illumination of a swinging pool table lamp or the admittedly romantic but somewhat erratic illumination of a candle flickering from its perch in the neck of a straw-clad Chianti bottle. It also helps if the selfie frame includes just a single person and not three or friends celebrating with her.
Attendees can see this technology in action Tuesday morning, March 8 when Sarah Clark, General Manager, Identity at Mitek presents The Next Factor in Mobile Identity Verification. Mitek’s Verify™ eases ID document verification via facial recognition, enabling merchants to “Know Your Customer” for a safe and secure transaction.
After the Innovation Showcase, attendees can talk to Mitek team at booth number 408.
About Tom Groenfeldt
Tom Groenfeldt writes about finance and technology, with his work spanning technology, finance, health care, supply chain, risk management and sometimes cultural and consumer topics. Named one of the 25 top global finserv influencers in 2015, (http://bit.ly/1DsqaeK) Tom likes "the pace of technology, especially in finance where it can move so fast." Tom is a regular contributor to Forbes, International Finance Magazine, Banking Technology and Mondo Visione.