Illuma Labs Raises $9 Million for Bank Voice Verification

Illuma Labs has raised $9 million to speed the development of its voice verification tools.

The company, which makes voice authentication technology for banking contact centers, announced its series A funding round in a news release Thursday (Sept. 12), saying it would help banks address threats like fraud, deep fakes and voice cloning.

“Too often, adoption of increased security measures results in less convenient, less pleasant member service interactions,” Chad Rogers, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the credit union Connexus, which invested in the round and has used Illuma’s services.

“Not only are we doing more to mitigate fraud while ensuring the safety of our members’ data and assets, but we’ve streamlined their member service experience by eliminating traditional, often burdensome, out-of-wallet authentication questions,” Rogers added.

Rogers added that the company’s Illuma Shield biometric tool has shortened call times, reduced expenses and improved security and efficiency.

In other fraud prevention news, PYMNTS spoke recently with Max Spivakovsky, senior director of strategy and operations, global payments risk management and onboarding at Galileo, about the tightrope banks walk in serving customers while guarding against cybercriminals.

That balancing act requires financial institutions (FIs) to employ proactive and reactive approaches, and technological tools, as they protect themselves while delivering a personalized, convenient customer experience, he said.

“The legacy solutions just don’t work anymore,” Spivakovsky told PYMNTS. “Leveraging a single tool used to be the ‘paramount’ strategy of fraud mitigation years ago, but now it’s just not applicable … the FIs must think about fighting fraud with a holistic perspective.”

The holistic perspective can pay dividends while protecting the FI from financial losses and reputational risk, he added.

“The client experience drives the engagement, and utilization of [banking] apps and programs,” Spivakovsky said.

With more engagement comes stickier relationships, more deposits and increased willingness among customers to try new services and products.

Asked by PYMNTS what a proactive strategy could entail, Spivakovsky argued that banks should be able to predict the customer experience and shifts in customer spending patterns so they can customize new offers in context.

“Reactive approaches contend with fraud that has already happened and include the need to inform customers in real time, through in-app notifications and other outreach efforts, of the steps they must take to protect themselves,” that report added.