Spend management FinTech, Qashio, has partnered with a global leader in digital identity verification, Facephi, to further secure its digital identification processes. Qashio’s customers will now be able to use biometric technology by Facephi, marking the publicly traded company’s first contract and entrance into the Middle East. UAE and KSA-based users can now perform digital onboarding and identity verification without the risk of identity theft.
Facephi’s technology will provide Qashio’s corporate customers with an improved user experience and security when registering its employees to issue corporate credit and debit cards and authorising them to use the cards. The process will be secure, stable and easy for end-users. Qashio users will need to take a photo of their ID card on both sides using their mobile device so that Facephi’s technology can read and capture their data using both Latin and Arabic alphabet characters. Users will then take a selfie from which Facephi will extract a biometric pattern of their face to compare it with the photograph on their official document, thus verifying their identity.
A survey’s results showed that a significant majority, 94%, of consumers in the UAE worry about the risk of banking or credit fraud as the banking industry is digitised. According to Deloitte’s latest Middle East Fraud Survey, almost half (48%) of the organisations reported a higher number of fraudulent incidents in 2021 than in previous years. Additionally, more than one-third of customers (48%) believe that the issue of fraud stems from insufficient identification measures and that individuals should confirm their identity when utilising services. By applying biometric technology, Qashio reinforces its customers’ security during the onboarding process. Simultaneously, the user gains a more secure experience, which means they can verify their identity with total security in just a few seconds.
Jonathan Lau, CPO and Co-founder of Qashio, said: “Partnering with an established provider like Facephi, which already provides its services to global banking giants such as Santander and HSBC, allows us to provide services in both English and Arabic across multiple countries. It elevates our offerings by bringing global security and KYC (Know Your Customer) standards to clients in the region. Facephi’s biometric technology will help us develop our processes in a more agile, quicker and easier way, with the peace of mind that we will avoid digital identity theft attacks.”
Enrico Montagnino, General Manager of Facephi EMEA, values this contract signing as ‘an important milestone in the company’s expansion strategy. One year ago, we made a commitment to commercialise our solutions in EMEA and this first contract signing with a FinTech company in the region shows that we are on the right track.”