TransUnion launches document verification and facial recognition solution to help UK businesses combat identity fraud

The cutting-edge identity verification tool provides customer document and selfie capture to enable real-time online verification through the customer’s device. This can allow businesses to streamline customer journeys, help strengthen fraud controls and improve operational efficiencies.

Shail Deep, chief product officer at TransUnion in the UK, told Security Matters: “Over the past five years, Cifas has stated that identity fraud cases have risen by 32%, while 87% of identity fraud cases in 2019 occurred via online channels. Our own research focused on COVID-related fraud against consumers reflects this, and highlights that phishing is the most common type of digital fraud attempt, with victims being lured into providing sensitive personal data such as their bank account details.”

Deep went on to comment: “Given these ever-present fraud threats, consumers rightly expect organisations to protect their identities and deliver safe and convenient online experiences. Our global identity verification solution enables businesses to confirm a customer’s identity and mitigate the risks of fraud without compromising the customer journey.”

Enhanced customer experience

The new document verification and facial recognition solution can be used to enhance the customer experience in a number of ways:

*New account openings: Verifying new-to-business consumers through enhanced CX capabilities where digital on-boarding, international ID verification or false account detection is needed

*Enhanced verification and ID: Stepping up verification for consumers where more detailed customer verification is called for due to potential ‘thin file’ data scarcity issues, higher risk or higher value products or where processes have become overly manual and inefficient

*Event-driven processes: Enabling verification based on product lifecycle events such as verifying additional parties to an account, digitally fulfilling varied and additional documentation requests and providing the capability to re-verify customers for regulatory purposes

John Cannon, managing director of fraud and ID at TransUnion in the UK, observed: “COVID-19 and social distancing have created further opportunities for fraudsters, with TransUnion’s Financial Hardship Study finding that over a quarter (26%) of UK consumers have been targeted in a digital fraud attempt related to the pandemic. Businesses need to step up their controls and ensure that they’re taking all possible precautions – incorporating the latest biometric technology where appropriate – such that they can deliver the efficient and safe online experiences that consumers expect.”

Seamless integration

TransUnion’s solution is customisable and can be integrated seamlessly into an existing customer journey via an app or a website. All information is captured securely through the consumer’s device, allowing businesses to simultaneously check the validity of the document, the danger of the device used to capture the document and the risk associated with the identity on the document.

There are rigorous checks to prove that Government-issued documents are genuine and valid. Where additional customer documents such as utility bills are required, data can be extracted and used to pre-populate forms and stored against the consumer record for internal processing and decision-making.

For additional security, near field communication reading of chip-enabled passports is built into the solution, duly strengthening checks on ePassports, while ‘selfie capture’ includes a few seconds of ‘live’ video to confirm that the ID matches the customer and determines proof of life.