Veridas: The leader in biometrics identity solutions

Veridas is a technology company specialising in identity verification in both digital and physical environments. With a proven track record, Veridas has served clients in various sectors, including banking, insurance and igaming, across more than 25 countries since 2017.

The company’s success is founded on its dedication to developing proprietary technology and its mission to facilitate secure and dependable identity verification and authentication through its state-of-the-art solutions for document verification, biometric authentication and age verification.

EGR: You’ve recently joined Veridas. What attracted you to the company and why are its solutions different from other providers?

Daniele Alfonso (DA): I’ve been in the fraud and identity space for a while and my reason for joining Veridas was its technology, its vision and its plans for gaming and other industries. Veridas is a technology-first company, born with the purpose of guaranteeing people’s right to use their real identities in the digital and physical world. We verify and authenticate identities using biometrics. We believe in a password free future.

Veridas has three main differentiators. First, our technology is 100% proprietary. Veridas’ tech is all built in-house meaning we deliver a complete end-to-end solution, built around our partners’ requirements.  Secondly, our tech is fully automated. We use AI and there is no human involved at any point of the process. So, if we are verifying someone’s identity, the check is not going to a call centre somewhere in the world where an agent looks at specific forms of ID. In contrast, Veridas has a fast automated ID verification which will be delivered in just  five to 10 seconds. Lastly, Veridas is recognised as the preferred provider of identity proofing and user solutions by industry analysts. Our pass rates reach up to 98%, offering valuable funnel conversion insights, which for operators means a fast, accurate and reliable identity verification service (IDV). Veridas is the best in the business and that’s what attracted me to them in the first place.  

EGR: Why should gaming operators be engaging with facial and voice authentication technology today?

DA:  In an age where billions of transactions happen ubiquitously, being able to fast track onboarding and verify a player’s identity in only a few seconds is key. Our platform gives operators a unique offering in that they can verify players the moment they sign up. We can verify someone’s identity in five seconds, partly through the ability to quickly compare documents to facial biometrics. This means that operators can make use of our facial authentication technology to authorise deposits, withdrawals, or any high-risk transaction. 

Another reason why operators should use us is because Veridas is saving what we call the ‘phygital’ (physical/digital) space. We align gaming onboarding and verify KYC online, but we are also very active in the age verification area for land-based casinos and betting shops. We work with operators to ensure no minors or unwanted players are allowed to play. We have a strong use case for retail betting shops and land-based casinos.

EGR: What are the security risks associated with face and voice authentication and how do you overcome them?

DA:  The internet is pretty much a replica of what can happen in real life. The risk is there are bad guys on the internet and therefore preventing unwanted access is crucial. Veridas uses proprietary Presentation Attack Detection (PAD) tech to identify and stop 14 types of Presentation Attacks (PA), which, in essence, is when someone is trying to bypass our system, for example by not taking a real picture, by showing a picture of a picture or by using a camera emulator, etc.

For those cases we have our Liveness Detection system that ensures automatic rejection of fraudulent attempts. We check liveness in a passive way during a simple selfie to make sure there is a real person behind the camera.

We’re ISO/IEC iBeta PAD Level 2 certified for liveness detection and we are ranked by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the gold standard for cybersecurity innovation, as a best-in-class biometric engine. This means that in a gallery of millions of faces, in just three seconds, our tech recognises all the duplicated faces. It’s very common for a fraudster to sign up with the same face but different forms of IDs, and we can spot them immediately.

EGR: According to your website, it takes as little as 20 seconds to complete a full ID verification. How do you keep the process so short?

DA: Our IDV is fully automated. The way we manage to do this is thanks to AI and means there are no humans involved. It is as fast as technology can get.

From an operator standpoint, if a firm needs to verify someone’s identity, for example, if a customer wants to bet live on who’s going to score the next goal to win the Champions League final, Veridas can verify that individual’s identity in seconds so they can place deposits and play straightaway. It not only has the advantage of providing a great UX, but has the benefit of a fast-tracked onboarding process that translates into higher conversion rates for operators, it also reduces acquisition costs and generates a higher potential of converting visitors into first time deposits (FTDs).

EGR: Veridas has 24 patents and trademarks granted across the world, what is the importance of having that patented technology for the business?

DA: At Veridas we strive to offer our customers the best-in-class of that available tech. Our initial focus was the financial sector and working with many global banking groups meant compliance with very high standards of regulatory requirements was a staple. Now, serving hundreds of clients across more than 25 countries, spanning diverse demographics and across heavily regulated industries, we have to ensure our technology is reviewed, approved and certified by pretty much every regulatory body and trademark in the world.

We believe in data protection compliance and privacy by design and by default. Everything we make is built to ensure data protection and compliance. For instance, we do not store any personal data. So, the moment we verify someone’s ID or face, we discard the information. From a GDPR point of view, we want to minimise risk, we want to be a very safe and transparent company for our customers.

EGR: What are the key differences between operations in Europe, the US and emerging markets such as Africa and Latam?

DA: Europe is obviously a consolidated market and demands differentiation due to high competition. It is pretty much leading the way in terms of regulatory benchmarking and how the player experience looks. You have the Gambling Commission, you have the MGA licence and then the single national rules on a country-by-country level. The US followed suit but state-by-state launches involve variations in regulation and significant IDV requirements. Obviously, the US has been a key focus for everyone in the last five years.

Latam, especially Brazil, is growing at faster rate. Gross gaming revenue in Latin America is predicted to soar from $1.3bn in 2020 to $3.4bn by 2025, driven by its young population. We are active in the market and already have offices Mexico and representatives across all Latin America. Fraud cases in those regions are very high and Veridas is already a key player.

Likewise, Africa is a growing market, especially Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, with an expected 12% growth from 2020 to 2025; but it is different to Europe and the US. In Africa, the acquisition costs are lower for operators, but the player value is equally lower. For example, an average bet for a UK player might be £10, but in Africa it will be a fraction of that amount. The tendency of players in Africa is to place a very high number of low value bets in the hope they’ll win big – the activity is high, but the stakes are significantly lower. It’s a very interesting market and I think it will become even more interesting in the near future.

EGR: Igaming is just one business vertical for Veridas. What is the plan for the sector moving forwards?

DA: We have strong plans for igaming. We are present at the largest industry events and keep an open dialogue with operators, listening to their feedback and taking it into account for our product roadmap. It’s my belief Veridas is the perfect proposition for this sector because, ultimately, what operators need is a quick solution but at the same time an accurate solution, one that can be trusted to convert as many visitors into players and first-time depositors as possible.

At present, we can identify any player worldwide (in 190 countries and using over 10,000 documents). We run AML checks and will soon provide proof of address services, IP, device risk, all elements that will basically complete a large range of solutions. We partner with the key players from the igaming partner ecosystem. It’s definitely an important space for us.

EGR: What feedback have you had from operators regarding your solution?

DA: It seems obvious and a cliché but in reality, they are very happy. There was one particular operator that had one of their most important customers switch to us because of the low conversion rates they were seeing with their existing vendor. There has also been good feedback around our response times, ease of integration, accuracy and overall conversion rates, up to 98%.

EGR: What’s next Veridas over the next 12 months and beyond?

DA: We have recently launched in the UK and US and will be opening an office in Italy soon. We have come a long way and have no plans to stop growing. We recently secured a €15m capital increase to accelerate our global expansion as a leading identity company. These days you hear about all these unicorn companies that at some point might struggle. We believe in solid, strong foundations. Veridas is here to stay.

Daniele Alfonso is director of business development at Veridas. For over 15 years he’s been at the leading edge of igaming, helping operators to navigate the risks and customer experience challenges involved in safely transacting with customers in digital channels.

From customer onboarding and user experience through to fraud prevention and credit rating companies, using data assets and content to maximise the players’ and users’ journeys, Alfonso continues his career focus of ‘verifying real identity in a virtual world’.