ID Verification Firm Mitek Buys UK’s HooYu

Digital identify verification firm Mitek has acquired HooYu, a U.K. company specializing in know your customer (KYC) technology.

“The acquisition helps to ensure businesses know the true identity of their customers by linking biometric verification with real-time bureau and sanction database checks,” Mitek said in a Wednesday (March 23) press release.

The San Diego-based company points to estimates from the United Nations that say as much as $2 trillion is laundered around the world each year. Increasing regulations, coupled with the rise of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), have given criminals more avenues and incentives to launder their money, Mitek said.

Read more: To Move Into The Mainstream, DeFi Needs To Double Down On Digital IDs

“Our current geopolitical, commercial and technological environment represents a perfect storm for bad actors,” Mitek Systems CEO Max Carnecchia said in the release. “The only way to combat this scourge is to use artificial intelligence (AI) and stop bad transactions before they happen.”

The company says the deal will give organizations a better picture of the consumer by melding biometrics, ID document validation, geolocation and identity confidence scoring with real-time data signals like bureau checks or matches to politically exposed person or sanction lists.

Meanwhile, HooYu’s orchestration capabilities will help Mitek customers optimize workflows and accelerate identity solutions across channels.

“Having a single platform that easily orchestrates and configures a KYC journey to manage identities and identify bad actors is becoming a prerequisite for any business transacting digitally,” said HooYu CEO Keith Marsden. “Bringing together Mitek’s lead in identity, liveness and biometrics, with our orchestration, configuration and journey services simplifies identity management for financial institutions.”

Learn more: Report: Businesses Challenged to Close the Consumer Biometric Perception vs. Use Gap

PYMNTS collaborated with Mitek last year for the report Authenticating Identities In The Digital Economy, an examination of how consumers’ attitudes toward login experiences now include a willingness to use biometric-based authentication to maintain security and convenience.

Many consumers who answered the survey said they found biometric authentication methods, such as facial recognition and fingerprint analysis, more secure than traditional log-in methods.