Credit union service organization Velera has introduced an identity security/authentication tool.
IDCheck by Co-op, announced Thursday (Aug. 1), is available to members of the Co-op Shared Branch network, which lets credit union members conduct transactions at partner credit unions throughout the country.
“With the increase in digital capabilities and payments offerings, the potential for fraud will also continue to grow,” Amy Evans, Velera’s senior vice president for strategic network solutions, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS. “IDCheck supports an omnichannel fraud fighting and prevention strategy to safeguard credit unions and their members participating in Co-op Shared Branch.”
According to the release, IDCheck can help protect credit union (CU) members by authenticating their identity through their smart devices when accessing their accounts at a shared branch.
The tool asks members to share a photo of their ID and a selfie, and then uses advanced graph-defined logic, artificial intelligence (AI) and biometric data to verify the ID and the member in real time. From there, members get a one-time passcode to share with a teller and confirm their identity.
They can also pre-authenticate their identification before going into a branch to transact, or save their validation for future visits, said Velera, previously known as PSCU/Co-op Solutions.
As PYMNTS wrote last year, fraud attacks against banks and CUs aren’t new, although consumers have begun taking them much more seriously.
One recent study found that nearly three-quarters of consumers rate fraud protection as one of their top three priorities when opening a new account at a bank or CU, surpassing ease of use (61%) and good value for their money at 46%.
“CUs must implement strong measures to protect themselves and their members from fraud — or watch members take their business elsewhere,” PYMNTS wrote.
Meanwhile, PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera recently collaborated on the report “How CUs Can Drive Engagement with Self-Service Banking Innovation.”
The study found that “ongoing innovation in self-service banking — including online and mobile options and the ability to use any ATM — can help CUs stand out, especially among younger consumers.”
For example, close to one-quarter of Generation Z and bridge millennials picked a financial institution (FI) based on self-service banking convenience and user experience. CUs that make investments in self-service banking innovations are well-positioned to increase memberships among younger consumers — particularly Gen Z.
Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong (SCBHK), Animoca Brands and HKT have agreed to form a joint venture to issue a stablecoin backed by the Hong Kong dollar.
The new joint venture intends to apply for a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) under a new regulatory regime, subject to the passage of the Stablecoins Bill, the companies said in a Monday (Feb. 17) press release.
Hong Kong’s stablecoin bill is under review and, if enacted, will require stablecoin issuers to obtain an HKMA license and comply with reserve and price stability requirements, Cointelegraph reported Monday.
The joint venture will benefit from Standard Chartered’s bank-grade infrastructure, rigorous governance and experience working with stablecoin issuers globally; Animoca Brands’ expertise and extensive network in the Web3 space; and HKT’s mobile wallet expertise, according to the companies’ press release.
The three companies have been working together in an HKMA stablecoin issuer sandbox that was launched in July to explore how stablecoins can play a role in the development of financial markets and payments, per the release.
Their joint venture’s Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin will be designed to enhance both domestic and cross-border payments and to serve both consumers and merchants, the release said.
“By leveraging the bank’s and our partners’ core strengths, we aim to launch a stablecoin that can be used securely by institutions and individuals across a wide range of use cases,” Mary Huen, CEO, Hong Kong and Greater China & North Asia, Standard Chartered, said in the release. “We are dedicated to staying at the forefront in driving FinTech innovation alongside the regulators, partners and clients, further consolidating the role of Hong Kong as an international finance center.”
In another, separate effort, Standard Chartered was among the firms that participated in a pilot project called the Canton Network that explored the potential of a privacy-enabled open blockchain network allowing for real-time settlement and immediate reconciliation across counterparty systems.
In September, the HKMA said that its second phase of testing had begun for its e-HKD Pilot, where 11 groups of firms are exploring tokenized assets, programmability and offline payments.