Category: PR

MUNICH and LONDON – April 10, 2025 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, is evolving its role in the digital identity landscape, ushering in a new phase of growth centered around trust, security, and future-proofing.  

Where Trust Powers Identity – this phrase encapsulates IDnow’s evolution from a European leader in automated and expert-led identity verification to a forward-thinking, future-proof digital identity ecosystem. This ecosystem not only verifies identities but continuously enriches them, setting a new benchmark for trust and security in the digital world. 

IDnow’s transformation of its identity approach comes as a strategic response to the fragmented digital identity landscape and the rapidly evolving needs of companies. This evolution strengthens IDnow’s position as a trusted name in fraud prevention and digital identity. 

With the rising complexity of global fraud and compliance challenges, industries’ demands go beyond traditional Know-Your-Customer (KYC) services. Today, true trust requires real-time fraud prevention at multiple touchpoints and as a result, identity verification becomes a proactive defense mechanism rather than a one-time regulatory obligation.  

“Trust is more than just an element of customer onboarding. Digital identities must remain secure and compliant in a constantly evolving market environment. Only then can they meet the demands of today’s digital landscape,” explains Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow.  

“Our new vision and strategic repositioning go far beyond traditional identity verification. We are creating an ecosystem where trust is embedded into every interaction, enabling businesses to gain a sustainable, competitive advantage in the global digital economy.” 

Trust as the Foundation of Digital Identity 

IDnow: Where Trust Powers Identity lays a strong foundation for the growth of the company. The key initiatives of this new mission include cementing business operations, streamlining processes, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for automation, and optimizing cost structures. 

Founded in 2014, IDnow has evolved from a startup offering a revolutionary alternative to the PostIdent procedure into a global company. Its continuous adaptability and commitment to raising trust standards provide IDnow’s customers with a clear competitive advantage in the global digital economy. 

A Central Platform for the Next Generation of Identity Verification 

With AMLR and eIDAS 2.0 on the horizon, the digital identity landscape is becoming increasingly complex. In this context, IDnow is a one-stop shop, providing seamless access to electronic identities (eID), digital wallets, trust services, and all existing verification solutions. 

IDnow plays a central role in the pan-European digital identity landscape. Its solutions simplify risk management, reduce regulatory complexity, and deliver customer-centric solutions. At the heart of this new vision, IDnow emerges as a key player in the next-generation identity verification ecosystem. 

Positioned for the future 

With this new strategic direction, IDnow specifically addresses the evolving risks that business operating in the global digital economy face today.  

As cyberattacks grow in both frequency and sophistication, traditional security measures are often reactive and fail to provide the proactive defense needed. By prioritizing real-time fraud prevention and scalable security, IDnow is taking a forward-thinking approach to safeguarding businesses, ensuring that trust is embedded at every stage of the customer journey. 

IDnow’s strategic shift allows companies to move from reactive to proactive security and implement a strong digital identity ecosystem. This approach, especially in highly regulated industries, creates crucial advantages while simultaneously optimizing the customer experience. 

“A paradigm shift is taking place in the digital identity landscape: moving away from one-time verification towards a continuous security process,” summarizes Bodczek.  

“IDnow is a leading expert in fraud prevention. With our new vision and strategic repositioning, we are redefining what it means to be a leader in digital identity. We are creating a scalable, intelligent trust framework that future-proofs businesses.  

He concludes: “We help businesses stay one step ahead of tomorrow’s threats. The comprehensive suite of products in our ecosystem means our customers will benefit from seamless identity verification, real-time fraud protection, and continuous compliance, all while enhancing user experiences and conversion rates.” 

Investment unlocks the next stage of growth and innovation for digital identity leader in Europe 

MUNICH and LONDON – March 6, 2025 – IDnow (or “the Company”), a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, today announced a new strategic investment from Corsair Capital (“Corsair”), a specialist investment firm targeting payments, software, and business services investments in the financial services market. With this transaction, Corsair will acquire a majority stake in the Company from existing shareholders, reinforcing its commitment to fueling IDnow’s continued growth and leadership position within the European identity market, and into other regions globally.

Founded in 2014, IDnow builds proprietary, AI-powered identity verification technologies that address the cybersecurity and digital verification needs of global enterprises and leading international brands across financial services, telecommunications, travel & mobility, gaming and other industries.

Corsair first invested to support the growth of IDnow in October 2019 when it acquired a minority stake in the business. Since Corsair’s initial investment, IDnow has strengthened its technical leadership position, grown its portfolio of differentiated identification solutions, and completed two strategic acquisitions which expanded the company into new geographies including establishing a leadership position in France. Through this transaction, Corsair aims to further accelerate IDnow’s growth and the Company’s position as a European leader with a comprehensive suite of solutions, strong positions in multiple geographies, and with additional acquisitions bringing added scale and reach.

“Since our founding a decade ago, IDnow has become a market leader in identity verification in Germany and France. During this time, we have achieved significant success in delivering strong results and growing our customer base, and with today’s announcement we aim to solidify our commitment to positioning the Company for future success,” said IDnow CEO Andreas Bodczek. “Corsair’s increased investment underscores their confidence in our vision and speaks to the synergies we have achieved through our collaborative relationship. With this deeper partnership, we can continue to transform and ensure our platform continues to evolve.” 

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with IDnow,” said Raja Hadji-Touma and Edward Wertheim, Partners at Corsair. “Since our initial investment, we’ve witnessed IDnow build significant momentum and achieve impressive scale. We are excited by the opportunity to deepen our partnership with IDnow’s talented management team, and we look forward to supporting their next chapter of innovation and growth.”

“Building IDnow has been an incredible journey over the past 10 years together with Armin Berghaus, Dennis von Ferenczy and Sebastian Baerhold, and we believe today’s announcement enables us to strengthen our capabilities and capitalize on the vast market opportunity available to us,” said Felix Haas, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of IDnow. “Corsair’s resources and expertise will help accelerate growth and unlock new opportunities for the Company and I’m confident this partnership will drive progress and expansion in ways that will benefit IDnow, its customers and the industry as a whole.”

About IDnow 

IDnow is a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe with a vision to make the connected world a safer place. The IDnow platform provides a broad portfolio of identity verification solutions, ranging from automated to human-assisted from purely online to point-of-sale, each of them optimized for user conversion rates and security. 

In 2021, IDnow acquired the French market leader for identity technology, ARIADNEXT, and the German identity Trust Management AG, enabling IDnow to offer its customers one of the broadest identification solutions through a single, integrated platform. 

The company has offices in Germany, United Kingdom, and France and is backed by renowned institutional investors, including Corsair Capital and Seventure Partners. Its portfolio of international clients spans a wide range of end markets including financial services, telecommunications, travel & mobility, gaming and other industries. 

About Corsair Capital

Corsair is a specialist investment firm offering opportunities for investors and solutions for companies across its private markets Buyouts and Infrastructure businesses. The firm’s buyouts business is a financial services investor focused on making control investments in three verticals: payments, software, and business services. The infrastructure business operates as a strategic partnership with Investcorp as of December 2023. Investcorp Corsair focuses primarily on value-add opportunities in transportation, logistics, and associated infrastructure subsectors, blending operating platforms and deep sectoral expertise with equity sponsorship. Corsair has invested $13.6 billion in capital across buyouts and infrastructure since inception. For more information, please visit www.corsair-capital.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

IDnow Trust Services AB certified as a Qualified Trust Service Provider in the European Union

Munich, November 5, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, announces its partnership with newly founded IDnow Trust Services AB, a certified Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) under EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS).[1] Founded as a joint venture in Stockholm in early 2024 between IDnow and ESYSCO, a system integrator and technology provider, the company offers qualified trust services, such as electronic signatures, time stamps, and seals, that combine security, compliance, and user convenience.

Innovation and leadership in the digital signature market

As a recognized QTSP in the EU by the Swedish supervisory body Post-och telestyrelsen (PTS), IDnow Trust Services AB will issue, validate, and manage electronic certificates and time stamps; capture additional information, such as qualified time; hold identification evidence data, and perform certificate revocation, while complying as a Certificate Authority (CA). The QTSP provides assurance of the existence of specific electronic data at a specific time, such as proof that documents have been submitted for processing.

One of the features that IDnow Trust Services AB will immediately enable for IDnow’s customers is SMS-free signing. This certified capability simplifies the signing process, eliminating the requirement of One-Time Password (OTP) codes and driving higher conversion rates. IDnow Trust Services AB is the first QTSP that will allow this new user authentication process, which is already acknowledged by different CEN and ETSI standards and which will revolutionize the user experience in the digital signature market.  

New joint venture secures trust and simplifies compliance

“We are incredibly pleased that our joint venture, IDnow Trust Services AB, is already bearing the fruits of our labor. At IDnow, we have long made it our mission to actively shape and lead the Know Your Customer and digital identity industry; we are now once again showing this leadership role by doubling down on trust services, as they are an essential part of the transformation of the digital identity market heralded by eIDAS 2.0”, says Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow.

He continues: “In the coming years, our customers will benefit from the synergy of identity verification and qualified trust services, ensuring a compliant and efficient experience for all business-critical operations across the EU. This collaboration sets a new standard for trust and operational efficiency, positioning businesses for long-term success in the fast-evolving digital landscape”.  

Johannes Leser, CEO of IDnow Trust Services AB, adds: “Trust and liability is the backbone of all business, and it will be the driving force behind the global digital economy. IDnow Trust Services AB is committed to delivering innovative and highly dependable solutions to IDnow, its customers, and partners. With trust as our mutual foundation, we’re poised to revolutionize the European digital signature market, which is expected to be seven times larger by 2030 than it is today.”

[1] The electronic Identification and Signature (eIDAS) regulation defines a QTSP as a natural or a legal person who provides one or more qualified trust services.

With the latest certification of French Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI), YRIS is now eligible to be featured on FranceConnect+

Munich/Rennes, September 10, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, has received the security Visa from French Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) recognizing the Substantial Level of Assurance (LoA) certification for digital identities for its YRIS digital identity wallet. The LoA is defined by the European eIDAS regulation (electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services) and was certified by the Agence nationale de sécurité des systèmes d’information (ANSSI).

Seamless reuse of verified digital identity credentials

YRIS was first launched in June 2022 and allows the seamless reuse of verified digital identity credentials. It enables users to easily and securely prove their identity without having to scan a physical ID document and their face each and every time access to a service is needed. The strength of YRIS also lies in the fact that it allows all French citizens to create this digital identity based on the old French national ID card, the new national ID card, and the residence permit.

Today, more than 450,000 users in France are using YRIS in their day-to-day lives via FranceConnect, the national digital identity federator, where users authenticate or identify themselves for eGovernment and other regulated services in France. The new certification also qualifies YRIS to be featured on FranceConnect+, and would thus make another digital identity provider available on the platform.

FranceConnect+ is similar to FranceConnect but its Substantial LoA provides an eIDAS node that will permit mutual recognition of French citizens on services in other European Union member states with their French digital identity. It can be used to carry out administrative procedures with more stringent user identification requirements, such as using training credits, obtaining subsidies, etc. It can also be used to generate qualified electronic signatures, to send or receive electronic registered mail, and to meet identification requirements for financial transactions subject to AML-CTF regulations.

Authentication and verification in financial services, insurance, HR sectors and electronic registered mail

Besides possible integration on FranceConnect+, YRIS can also be used for proof of identity and as a secured method of strong authentication in the financial or insurance industries, and in human resources. Several use cases, such as financial account opening, insurance contracts, loans or rental agreements, can now be processed via YRIS thanks to the new Substantial LoA. Based on the eIDAS regulation, YRIS can also be used by providers of electronic registered mail services as a compliant method for identifying the recipient, a promising market for mail replacement.

“This certification is the latest company milestone for IDnow, which remains committed to playing a key role in Europe’s ambition to create and offer a single, reliable and secure digital identity to its citizens and residents,” says Marc Norlain, Managing Director and Head of the Reusable Identities Unit at IDnow.

“With their reusable digital identities, end users in France will be able to open a bank account or carry out any banking operation, perform a qualified electronic signature, open an online gaming account, or send or receive an electronic registered letter. We are at a pivotal moment in the digital identity ecosystem in France and Europe overall and IDnow is proud to lead the way with our expertise and our proven solutions.”

IDnow InstantSign and eID eSign reduce the cost and complexity of contract signing

Munich, July 9, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, has launched two new e-signature solutions to the market. InstantSign empowers financial businesses to innovate friction-heavy and lengthy signing processes, such as loan contracts, by way of a reusable identity, while eID eSign enables users to verify their identity and digitally sign contracts with the help of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

AML compliance redefined: QES without reverification

Existing solutions traditionally either require a new identity verification before a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) can be issued or the identification needs to be handled by the financial institution. IDnow’s latest signing solution InstantSign removes these obligations, allowing users who have already performed Anti-Money-Laundering (AML)-compliant identity verification at onboarding to digitally sign contracts at a qualified level, with no additional integrations required and in accordance with European eIDAS regulations.

“Eliminating the requirement for reverification by reusing an existing identification significantly streamlines the process of issuing a QES in an AML-compliant e-signing journey. InstantSign has been proven to reduce drop-offs and accelerate contract completion. With physical signing processes sometimes taking days, our customers can now cut this to mere seconds with InstantSign, by foregoing the printing, signing and return process of a hard copy contract”, explains Vikas Seth, Chief Product Officer at IDnow.  

“Additionally, if reverification is needed due to an expired identity document, InstantSign works seamlessly with IDnow’s entire range of identity verification solutions from automated and hybrid, to video, thus keeping identity data up-to-date, and providing a compliant solution for financial services organizations.”

eID eSign – Fast verification and secure signing thanks to NFC technology  

eID eSign allows end customers to quickly verify their identity and digitally sign contracts remotely. In less than a minute, users can verify themselves by utilizing compliant and secure NFC technology, for a QES that is the legal equivalent to a wet-ink signature on the Level of Assurance (LoA) High. IDnow’s eID eSign solution currently works with the German ID card, residence permit or EU citizen card, using a secure, compliant NFC chip readout of these documents. It expands IDnow’s existing signing solution portfolio and complements the available identity verification methods for various types of signatures with solutions like VideoIdent, AutoIdent and IDCheck.io.

“With eID eSign, our customers can future-proof their offering according to the German AML laws (GwG) and the European eIDAS regulations. The use of the NFC chip reduces the risk of identity theft and unauthorized access while cutting costs associated with printing, storage and manual handling of documents. Both solutions propel us and our customers into the next stage of compliance digitalization,” concludes Seth.  

Munich-based identity pioneer looks back on ten years of revolutionizing the KYC space and doubles down on reusable identities and trust services

Munich, June 27, 2024 – IDnow, a leading platform provider for identity verification in Europe, is looking back on ten successful years of revolutionizing the German and European Know-Your-Customer (KYC) market and is now doubling down on reusable identities and trust services. Founded in 2014 by Armin Bauer, Sebastian Bärhold, Felix Haas and Dennis von Ferenczy, the Munich-based company’s flagship product at the time was the revolutionary VideoIdent, which had just been allowed by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

A platform with automated and expert-led solutions that serves all needs

Since then, a variety of solutions have been added to the portfolio, following market needs and technological trends: the AI-supported, fully automated AutoIdent solution was introduced in 2018, followed by the electronic function of the German ID card (eID) in 2019. Just last year, IDnow introduced ShopIdent, the onsite solution for identification in German petrol stations and stores. The transaction figures prove the success of these solutions: Over 13.2 million transactions have been processed via IDnow AutoIdent, while the scale-up looks back on another 13 million successfully identified users with VideoIdent to date.

In 2019, Andreas Bodczek was appointed as CEO at IDnow: “We have made it our mission over the past five years to actively shape and lead our industry and show our customers why digital identities are essential to their business. In the last decade, we have grown into a platform provider that serves all market needs with the help of the latest technology. We have earned the trust of our customers because we focus on our core business every day without losing sight of the secular trends that are shaping the market.”

Munich-based scale-up has long been one of the largest European players

In 2021, increased expansion opportunities led IDnow to acquire the French market leader for identity verification technology, ARIADNEXT, and the German provider identity Trust Management AG, establishing IDnow as one of the largest European players in the identity industry.

In addition to its traditional financial and telecommunications applications, new growth areas for IDnow have opened up in the mobility and travel industry, online dating, gaming, human resources and social media. Although user needs and regulatory requirements differ greatly from traditional industries, the desire for increased trust in digital transactions has grown across territories, regardless of the use case.

Reusable identities and trust services determine the future

The digital identity industry is facing a paradigm shift due to regulations, such as eIDAS 2.0 at the European level or announced changes to the Videoident regulation in Germany. With its more than 900 trusted customers, the company aims to leverage these relationships and take them to the next level by building up its own trust service and a digital identity pool of several million users in the next few years. In doing so, the scale-up intends to lead the way in the transformation of the digital identity market heralded by eIDAS 2.0: European trust services, reusable identities and a fully integrated, broad product portfolio form the basis of the company’s long-term product strategy.

“Today, we are facing a fundamental transformation of our industry – away from the one-time verification process and towards reusable identities – and we will once again lead this revolution,” Bodczek says. “Since its founding, IDnow, with its broad and continually evolving portfolio, has shown a great deal of foresight, resiliency, and adaptability to market developments. With a team of over 450 highly skilled colleagues across ten offices in Europe, we are already one of the largest players in the identity industry. The experience, expertise, and innovation drive that we have assembled in-house make us extremely optimistic about the next ten years of our company and the industry at large,” he concludes.

London, June 18, 2024 – Ahead of the busy summer betting period, IDnow, a leading identity verification provider in Europe, has seen a significant spike in the number of gambling customers requesting identity verification.

Between 14 and 16 June, IDnow saw a 750% increase in the number of players being verified with a European gambling operator [1]. The busiest sign-up day was 14 June, the day of the opening match of UEFA EURO 2024, which saw a much higher volume of verification requests than was seen during the 2022 World Cup.

This latest spike coincides with the lead up to the opening game of UEFA EURO 2024 on 14 June. During each country’s first game, IDnow is expecting these figures to stay at a high level. With that, an increased likelihood of bonus abuse, multi-accounting, underage gambling, money laundering and fake documentation.

Effective, compliant verification processes to onboard vast numbers of players

“The challenges operators face during major sporting tournaments are not necessarily any different to their regular daily compliance hurdles, but the sheer volume of new players from all around the world, coupled with increased activity is likely to cause issues for unprepared operators,” said Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk, Vice President of Global Gaming at IDnow.

“EURO 2024 will be a huge opportunity for gambling platforms, new and old, so it’s essential they capitalize on the event, while safeguarding their players and their reputation. It’s important they have effective, compliant verification processes in place to onboard vast numbers of players as smoothly and safely as possible. Only when operators are confident they can verify accounts thoroughly, and onboard the right players during such busy period, will they be effective in fighting fraud.”

As global sporting events have such broad appeal, they often attract both casual and regular bettors. Combined with the convenience and accessibility that online platforms now offer, betting during these periods is getting increasingly popular. Indeed, betting during the 2022 World Cup increased by 13 percent compared with the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Worryingly, the surge in gambling activity was seen on both regulated and unregulated sites. For example, in the UK alone, 250,000 people visited unregulated, black-market sites during the last World Cup compared with just 80,0000 during the same time frame of the previous year.

Other key security concerns that are exacerbated by major sporting events, such as EURO 2024:

1. Increase in site traffic is often used by fraudsters as a smoke screen for nefarious activities. They may conduct identity theft, or attempt account takeovers by launching phishing attacks and cyberattacks on unsuspecting users.
2. Unsecured public Wi-Fi networks can pose a security risk when players log in to place bets. These networks are susceptible to interception by hackers, leading to unauthorized access to user accounts, exposure of sensitive personal information and potential financial losses for both users and operators.
3. Rising rates of gambling fraud, with chargeback fraud a particularly common issue. While identity verification solutions can help verify the identity of users and detect fraudulent activity, preventing chargeback fraud requires additional measures, such as transaction monitoring and collaboration with payment processors to identify and block suspicious transactions in real time.

Although all global gambling platforms are likely to see an uptick in player onboarding, it will likely be European nations that share the same time zone as the tournament that will see the biggest increase in usage.

“Gaming operators in these particular regions must offer secure player onboarding, deposits and withdrawals, and conduct seamless Anti-Money-Laundering and age verification checks to help fight the expected proliferation of fraudulent activity in both the build up to EURO 2024 and throughout the tournament,” concluded Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk.

[1] Compared to the same time frame last year.

New VideoIdent Flex elevates trust with a human touch in the face of rising fraud and the closing of physical bank branches

London, April 16, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification provider in Europe, has unveiled VideoIdent Flex, a new version of its expert-led video verification service that blends advanced AI technology with human interaction. The human-based video call solution, supported by AI, has been designed and built to boost customer conversion rates, reduce rising fraud attempts, increase inclusivity, and tackle an array of complex online verification scenarios, while offering a high-end service experience to end customers.

The company’s original expert-led product, VideoIdent, has been a cornerstone in identity verification for over a decade, serving the strictest requirements in highly regulated industries across Europe. VideoIdent Flex, re-engineered specifically for the UK market, represents a significant evolution, addressing the growing challenges of identity fraud, compliance related to Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes and ensuring fair access and inclusivity in today’s digital world outside of fully automated processes.

Empowering businesses with flexible human-based identity verification

As remote identity verification becomes more crucial yet more challenging, VideoIdent Flex combines high-quality live video identity verification with hundreds of trained verification experts, thus ensuring that genuine customers gain equal access to digital services while effectively deterring fraudsters and money mules. Unlike fully automated solutions based on document liveness and biometric liveness features, this human-machine collaboration not only boosts onboarding rates and prevents fraud but also strengthens trust and confidence in both end users and organizations. VideoIdent Flex can also serve as a fallback service in case a fully automated solution fails.

Bertrand Bouteloup, Chief Commercial Officer at IDnow, commented: “VideoIdent Flex marks a groundbreaking advancement in identity verification, merging AI-based technology with human intuition. In a landscape of evolving fraud tactics and steady UK bank branch closures, our solution draws on our decade’s worth of video verification experience and fraud insights, empowering UK businesses to maintain a competitive edge by offering a white glove service for VIP onboarding. With its unique combination of KYC-compliant identity verification, real-time fraud prevention solutions, and expert support, VideoIdent Flex is a powerful tool for the UK market.”

Whereas previously firms may have found video identification solutions to be excessive for their compliance requirement or out of reach due to costs, VideoIdent Flex opens up this option by customizing checks as required by the respective regulatory bodies in financial services, mobility, telecommunications or gaming, to offer a streamlined solution fit for every industry and geography.

Customizable real-time fraud prevention for high levels of assurance

VideoIdent Flex has a number of key features and benefits:

• Customizable: Pre-defined configurations to meet specific industry requirements and regional regulations.
• Expert-led: High-quality live video verification conducted by trained identity verification experts, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and compliance for high levels of assurance.
• Extensive document coverage: Support for a wide range of documents, facilitating global expansion and inclusivity.
• Real-time fraud prevention: Advanced fraud detection capabilities, including AI-driven analysis and manual checks, combat evolving fraud tactics and help protect against social engineering fraud, document tampering, projection and deepfakes, especially for high-risk use cases and goods.
• Verification of high-risk individuals: Reviewing applications from high-risk persons, such as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), high-risk countries; or assessing where fraud might be expected with real-time decisions, without alerting suspicion.

Bouteloup concluded: “Identity verification is incredibly nuanced; it’s as intricate as we are as human beings. This really compounds the importance of adopting a hybrid approach to identity – capitalizing on the dual benefits of advanced technology when combined with human knowledge and awareness of social cues. With bank branches in the UK closing down, especially in the countryside, and interactions becoming more and more digital, our solution offers a means to maintain a human relationship between businesses and their end customers, no matter their age, disability or neurodiversity.   

“VideoIdent Flex is designed from the ground up for organizations that cannot depend on a one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring their customers are who they say they are. In a world where fraud is consistently increasing, our video capability paired with our experts adds a powerful layer of security, especially for those businesses and customers that require a face-to-face interaction.”

Digital identity pilot implementation to start in Q1 2024: Kick-off with 2,700 citizens from Austria, Romania and Spain to test wallet solution

Rennes/Munich, March 12, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, is pleased to announce the start of the pilot implementation phase for the EU-wide SOTERIA research project which aims to develop a user-centric, citizen-driven tool to help European citizens manage their personal data.

The ultimate goal of the project is to combine the creation of a digital identity to access online services with a user-friendly platform that allows for secure and easy data management, while increasing citizens’ awareness of their personal data. “SOTERIA is a large scale demonstrator that shows how a digital identity wallet can enable citizens to protect and control their personal data while making access to online services easier than ever before,” says Montaser Awal, Director of Research at IDnow and coordinator of the SOTERIA project.

E-voting, e-exam, and e-health field tests in three EU countries

Launched in October 2021, the SOTERIA project is nearing the final pilot implementation and testing phase of the identity wallet solution, which was developed by IDnow and the other SOTERIA partners as part of the project. The wallet will be integrated into the platforms of SCYTL, IPCenter and Biobizkaia Health Research Institute (with the support of INFOCONS association) in Romania, Austria and Spain, respectively, for use cases in e-voting, e-exam, and e-health.

This month, the three pilot use cases will kick off with field tests consisting of 900 citizens each from Austria, Romania and Spain. For the e-voting and e-exam use cases, participants will authenticate themselves through the SOTERIA app and test the onboarding, which IDnow provides via proven identity verification methods. These include several new security checks developed within the project, reinforcing the fraud detection capability of the solution further. Then the citizens will go through the voting or exam process, and at the end, have the choice to add their voting receipt or their exam results to their wallet. For the e-health trial, citizens will have the possibility to add their health data to their wallet, while choosing the type of data and documents they want to store. This will allow them to have all important health information about themselves in their pockets.

The benefits of this testing phase are twofold: The 2,700 citizens will test the authentication process and the access to an online service with the help of a stored digital identity; while the wallet’s capability to store documents and attributes (e.g., e-voting receipt, e-exam results, e-health data) in the form of verifiable credentials will also be tested. Afterwards, the citizens’ feedback will be analyzed and evaluated by AUDENCIA and will be used to improve the platform. These findings can then inform the further development of digital identity wallets under the upcoming eIDAS2 (electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services) regulation.

Awal adds: “Thanks to the findings in the use cases with citizens, SOTERIA will help strengthen security, privacy, and personal data protection across all layers of the digital economy, and will help pave the way for a trustworthy EU digital environment. We are very proud that the R&D team at IDnow gets to lead this ambitious consortium of 13 European partners. It is testament to our innovative spirit and curiosity that forms part of our DNA at IDnow.”

About SOTERIA

The SOTERIA consortium consists of 13 partners from eight EU countries, composed of small medium enterprises (ERDYN), large enterprises (IDnow, SCYTL, IPCenter.at), universities and research centers (Audencia, KU Leuven, CVC, IDIAP, Inria, Biocruces Bizkaia) and non-for-profit organizations (INFOCONS, STELAR, NORIA Onlus). The project was written and submitted to the European Union in August 2020, following a call for projects by the European Commission on the topics of digital security and privacy for citizens. The SOTERIA project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101018342. More information on the project can be found at https://www.soteria-h2020.eu/.[1]

[1] This content reflects only the author’s view. The European Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

IDnow fraud survey reveals: 33% of Brits share sensitive ID documents unprotected online, with youth most at risk.

• 33% of Brits have shared scans or photos of an ID card, driving licence or passport via digital channels, such as social media or email, despite knowing that these ID documents could land in the wrong hands
• The survey also revealed that three-quarters of Brits are most concerned about banking fraud
• Over half of Brits (54%) do not know what social engineering is, or the role it plays in fraud, with almost half not knowing what deepfakes are

London, February 20, 2024 – A major survey into attitudes and knowledge around fraud in the UK has been unveiled, with findings indicating a lack of knowledge around key tactics used by fraudsters, leaving Brits vulnerable to this crime, which is seeing exponential growth.

Commissioned by IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider, the YouGov survey of 2,264 people has uncovered that almost half (45%) of UK adults were aware that scans or photos of their ID documents could be obtained by criminals to be used to commit fraud – yet sent the documents via digital channels, such as email, social media and messenger apps anyway.

Such activity could lead to identity theft, which IDnow believes should be a concern to the UK public, especially given the rise in deepfake technology. Developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) mean deepfake technology can now be used to create hyper-realistic fake documents, as well as videos. However, the survey found that less than a third (31%) of Britons know what deepfake documents are and are aware of the potential risks posed by digitally generated images of physical documents.

Lovro Persen, Director Document and Fraud at IDnow, commented: “Many of us have seen the uncanny deepfake videos of celebrities that spread like wildfire across the internet, showing how easy it is to emulate the likeness of someone using AI. But worryingly, this research suggests that the UK public is not as concerned, or aware as they should be, of the risks associated with such digitally generated images or videos.

“The extraordinary leaps in AI technology mean it’s now almost too easy for a fraudster to carry out financial crimes. Consumers shouldn’t make it even easier for fraudsters though. Our advice is always to think twice before sending a scan or photo of your driving licence or passport into the digital ether via unencrypted channels, such as social media or email.”

Interestingly, 48% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed have shared ID documents via such risky channels, compared with just 21% of over-55s, highlighting the potential need to better educate the younger generation on digital fraud threats.

Is fraud front of mind?

The survey also revealed that three-quarters of Brits are most concerned about banking fraud, when asked about the different areas of life where fraud could occur. An additional 37% of Brits are most concerned about fraud via social media channels.

With 54% of Brits unfamiliar with social engineering, encompassing deceptive tactics such as phishing or smishing, the majority of the population remains vulnerable to potential fraud attempts. Social engineering, one of the most prevalent and hard to catch fraud typologies, sees fraudsters manipulating trust or fear, putting consumers at risk of divulging sensitive information or falling prey to malicious links disguised as trustworthy messages.

In terms of the likelihood of being a victim of crime, a fifth (21%) of Brits believe they are most at risk of someone hacking their social media profile. In fact, social media was the primary security concern for those aged 18- to 24-years-old, with each remaining age group citing their main worry as someone accessing their bank account through identity fraud.

Hence, for accounts connected to larger sums or investments, three quarters of Brits (75%) would be willing to go through a lengthier online onboarding process, if this made it safer. Doug Pollock, Vice President Customer Success at IDnow, explained: “Our findings show that banks in the UK do not always go far enough to make their customers feel safe and secure. They need to go further in terms of fraud prevention technology to meet their customers’ risk appetite, especially when their money is at stake. Because, and our research confirms this, if banks get it wrong, the majority of people (54%) would consider moving banks were they to become a victim of fraud.

“We hope these findings highlight the massive impact online fraud continues to have on British people. Because fraudsters work across industries, regions and use cases, it’s vital we all work together – financial services, technology providers, government, law enforcement and the public – to identify and stop fraudsters before it’s too late.”

About this study

This release is based on data from an online survey conducted by YouGov Germany, in which 2,264 people in the UK took part between 6 and 7 December 2023. The results were weighted and are representative of the UK population aged 18 and over.

UK Fraud Awareness Report 2024

Learn more about the British public’s awareness of fraud based on age and gender, what they think about fraud in the UK, and what types of fraud they believe pose the biggest threat.

Read more

System to achieve full compliance of Crypto Asset Service Providers and self-hosted wallets with AML regulations and the Transfer of Funds Regulation  

Munich, February 13, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, joins a consortium of five partners including the IOTA Foundation, walt.id, SPYCE.5, and Bloom Labs with the goal of making Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and self-hosted wallets compliant with the European Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation and the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR). 

The new TFR regulation in the EU mandates that all cryptocurrency transactions will need to carry identifying data of the sender and the receiver. According to the new rule, compliance with TFR is mandatory for all CASPs. Additionally, the new AML Regulation will require all CASPs to comply with similar AML rules as other financial institutions. For example, when a user opens an account and registers a wallet with a CASP, an identification process is required to comply with the new AML Regulation and TFR.

One challenge for CASPs to adhere to the new rules lies in GDPR compliance, as personal identifiable information (PII) should not be stored on blockchains or Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT). However, to comply with the new regulations, CASPs need to know with whom they are doing business and continuously verify this information.

Raising trust and transparency in crypto asset transactions

To address this challenge, the partners have formed a consortium to propose a system where a trusted party tokenizes an identification process it has witnessed, allowing CASPs to have confidence in this process, without revealing any PII. The resulting soul-bound token (SBT) can be used for blockchain processes, enabling web3 native interactions. Furthermore, the trusted party can reveal the identity information, if requested by an authorized party, such as law enforcement, as well as revoke the SBT, if needed.

Within the consortium, the IOTA Foundation, a non-profit foundation supporting the development of the IOTA protocol, will provide the underlying network as the proposed solution will be implemented on an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible IOTA Smart Contract Chain. walt.id, a leading open source vendor of decentralized identity and wallet infrastructure, will develop, provide, and maintain the trusted witness service for creating and verifying SBTs like identity proofs, while IDnow will deliver the identity verification solution to onboard users into the wallet solution. Bloom, an all-in-one wallet for the IOTA, Shimmer and EVM ecosystem, will provide the capabilities for users to store, present and prove ownership of the SBT. SPYCE.5, specializing in the integration of hybrid blockchain technologies, will provide the essential infrastructure for seamless interchain communication and transaction validation, ensuring the system’s overall efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Statements

“We are excited to be part of this forward-thinking consortium alongside highly esteemed crypto asset industry players to address a pressing need for crypto wallet solutions that comply with the latest EU regulations. Crypto companies are facing a race against the clock to implement new requirements, which is why we wish to submit this proposed solution to the EU for consideration to address the technological and regulatory challenges around AML, KYC and TFR in crypto,” says Rayissa Armata, Director Global Regulatory and Government Affairs at IDnow.

“We are thrilled to be working with such incredible partners to create a truly seamless user experience and to provide the underlying distributed ledger technology. Identity verification in Web3 environments should be simple and straightforward, without sacrificing privacy or security. As regulatory requirements grow, we need innovative solutions that are easy to use for both businesses and everyday users,” says Dominik Schiener, Chairman of the Board of the IOTA Foundation.

“We have been building decentralized identity and wallet solutions for many clients across various industries, but this project is particularly interesting as it shows new ways of onboarding and verifying users for crypto and DeFi use cases that have traditionally been struggling with regulatory compliance,” says Dominik Beron, Founder of walt.id.

“Bloom is excited to be collaborating with the partners in this consortium. This project will ensure our users and the crypto ecosystem can benefit from a self-hosted wallet that complies with EU regulations,” says Nicole O’Brien, Co-founder of Bloom Labs.

“We’re proud to be part of this groundbreaking consortium, leveraging SPYCE.5’s hybrid chain architecture to navigate the complex landscape of EU regulations. Our innovative approach ensures not only compliance but also maintains the integrity and efficiency vital in the crypto space,” says Holger Köther, Managing Director of SPYCE.5.

IDnow to become an active part of the European netID Foundation’s ecosystem

Munich, January 30, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, announces its cooperation with the European netID Foundation. The goal: The introduction of an identity wallet for netID users in Germany as an alternative to the offerings of US platforms.

Developed by IDnow, the netID Wallet app will be available for users to download later this year and will allow them to reuse and share stored digital identities.

Self-determined and even simpler reuse of identities

netID is an open standard that enables users to access online services of netID partners (among others Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, ProSiebenSat.1 and United Internet with the WEB.DE and GMX brands) via the same login details, all in compliance with data protection regulations. The introduction of the identity wallet will make storing and retrieving identities even easier for around 40 million potential users.

Bundled in one digital location, users can access and verify proof of identity such as ID cards, driving licenses, social security data and much more on their smartphone at any time – making everyday processes more efficient. netID partners, in turn, can significantly simplify their processes for verifying customer data, for example for invoice purchases, and thus make them more cost-effective.

Wallet can be used by the partners of the netID ecosystem

The initial verification of the user’s identity to create the wallet is carried out using the proven IDnow solutions. Once the identity has been confirmed and the digital wallet has been successfully created, the user decides with whom they want to share what data. Anyone who uses the wallet once to register with a mobile phone provider, for example, can use it again at any time with one of the partners in the netID ecosystem for verified identification.

The wallet is another step toward the future: the European Commission is about to publish a new version of the eIDAS regulation (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services), which is expected to come into force in 2024. All EU citizens should have a digital identity by 2030. The launch of the netID Wallet supports this goal.

“netID has been simplifying digital life in Germany since it was founded. Transparency and data protection have always been at the heart of what we do. We see the netID Wallet as the logical next step in the further development of the netID offering. Thanks to the cooperation with IDnow, we can offer our users secure and user-friendly identity verification that will even be able to serve regulated use cases in compliance with eIDAS in the future,” explains Uli Hegge, CEO of the European netID Foundation.

“We are delighted to have gained a trustworthy partner for our identity wallet in Germany in the form of the European netID Foundation and to be an active part of the netID ecosystem in the future,” says Uwe Stelzig, Managing Director DACH at IDnow.

“IDnow and netID pursue similar goals in terms of data security and user-friendliness, which we are now also pursuing together in identity verification. With the introduction of the wallet, users no longer have to identify themselves again and again, but can save their verified identities and simply reuse them the next time. In this way, netID partners can offer their users even faster and secure access to their services,” continues Stelzig.

London, January 17, 2024 – ZORRZ, a London-based fintech startup focused on empowering financial inclusivity and security, has announced its partnership with IDnow, a leading European identity verification platform provider, to revolutionize customer onboarding for their innovative credit solution, the BlueAccess Card.

Aiming to democratize access to credit, ZORRZ is set to launch the BlueAccess Card, a hybrid credit card specifically designed for immigrants, individuals with past credit challenges, students, those with learning or physical disabilities, and other groups currently excluded from main stream credit. The card features integrated Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) functionality, providing consumers greater financial flexibility to split payments for purchases. ZORRZ also offers an AI-powered Application Programming Interface (API) generating a comprehensive Financial Health Score, an alternative to conventional credit scores.

“The mission of ZORRZ is to provide responsible and seamless access to credit, fostering financial inclusivity through secure and innovative solutions,” says Priyesh V. Mistry, Managing Director at ZORRZ. “Our collaboration with IDnow signifies our commitment to combating fraud while ensuring a frictionless experience for our customers. IDnow’s cutting-edge AI-driven identity verification aligns perfectly with our ethos of delivering both security and a smooth onboarding journey.”

Real-time responses, robust fraud protection, and seamless customer verification

By harnessing IDnow’s advanced AI-based KYC (Know Your Customer) solution, ZORRZ aims to comply with FCA regulations, ensuring real-time responses, robust fraud protection, and seamless customer verification. IDnow’s automated document verification, including a face biometric comparison with liveness detection, will empower ZORRZ to streamline customer onboarding securely and efficiently.

Doug Pollock, Vice President Customer Success at IDnow, comments, “We are thrilled to collaborate with ZORRZ in redefining customer onboarding experiences in the UK. Our AI-powered, automated identity verification solutions are designed to make KYC and Anti-Money-Laundering processes an enabler rather than a barrier for innovative ventures like ZORRZ. This partnership is an excellent foundation for future expansions, leveraging our expertise in multi-jurisdiction compliance and our extensive European presence.”

In a bid to break down the barriers of bias in AI-powered facial verification, IDnow is participating in the MAMMOth project, collaborating with 12 European partners, including academic institutions, associations, and private companies. Funded by the European Research Executive Agency [1], the three-year long project aims to study and mitigate biases in AI algorithms, particularly in areas such as assessment of loan applications, academic evaluation, and face verification applied to identity verification. This initiative underscores IDnow’s commitment to ensuring fair and reliable algorithms, promoting inclusivity, and addressing concerns of underrepresented groups affected by biases in identity verification processes.

The partnership between ZORRZ and IDnow signifies a leap forward in revolutionizing credit accessibility, combining ZORRZ’s commitment to inclusive financial products with IDnow’s expertise in secure and seamless identity verification. This collaboration promises to pave the way for a more inclusive, secure, and accessible financial landscape for all consumers.

[1] Disclaimer: Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

The Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) confirms that IDCheck.io, the AI-based identity verification solution, is suitable for age verification in accordance with the youth protection treaty in Germany

Munich, January 9, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, today announces that its fully automated, AI-based solution IDCheck.io has been positively assessed by the German Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz, KJM) for the use of age verification. With this latest confirmation, IDcheck.io joins the extensive list of IDnow solutions already rated as positive by the KJM for age verification. Previously, the videochat-based VideoIdent, AutoIdent, IDnow eID and the IDnow Wallet were among the solutions approved for age verification by the Commission.

Protection of minors via age verification systems

The German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag, JMStV) stipulates that certain unsuitable content, such as AO-rated video and browser games, gambling offers or pornography, may only be distributed online if the provider ensures that it is only available for adult user groups. In order to ensure such closed, adult-only user groups, age verification systems (AV systems) are used. The KJM publishes a list of evaluated age verification systems which fulfil the legal requirements to provide legal and planning security for providers and operators of such content.

“There are corners of the internet that contain content best unseen by child or adolescent eyes. However, curious young minds will often go searching for these, so there needs to be a method of gatekeeping on these websites that goes beyond asking a user to simply click a button to confirm or deny their adult status, which is what the KJM stands for in Germany. With IDCheck.io, IDnow is pleased to offer yet another solution for online age verification, which has been rated positively by the KJM. With our broad range of identity verification methods, IDnow remains a strong partner for the protection of minors, especially in the gaming and gambling space,“ says Rayissa Armata, Director Global Regulatory & Government Affairs at IDnow.

Munich, October 30, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other industry partners, supported the first integrated digital identity travel experience, streamlining the process from flight shopping to arrival. The demonstration took place on a journey from London Heathrow (LHR) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) with British Airways.

“Working closely on this project with IATA and the other partners underlines our commitment to a future travel experience that is digital, efficient, and seamless. The integrated journey we demonstrated at the World Passenger Symposium in Chicago paves the way for simpler and more seamless travel experiences,” says Dr Heinrich Grave, Senior Vice President Digital Identity at IDnow.

“Thank you to IDnow for their collaboration in demonstrating the first fully integrated digital identity travel experience, from shopping for flights to arrival. Our goal has always been a future of travel that’s fully digital and secured with biometric identification. Though we’ve had the technology for individual steps, bringing them together has been a challenge. Today, with the support of our partners, we’ve shown it’s achievable. This is a significant stride towards simpler and smoother travel experiences in the future,” says Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.

Key highlights of the digital travel experience include:

• Personalised Offers: Leveraging data, such as loyalty card details stored securely in digital wallets, to curate personalised offers for travellers.
• Simplified Orders: Streamlined order generation that eliminates the need for traditional tickets, storing all essential journey details in a verifiable digital credential accessible via a QR code.
• Effortless Travel Requirements Check: Pre-journey processes to confirm travel requirements, backed by IATA’s Timatic system.
• “Ready to Fly” Simplifying and Securing Check-ins: Enhancing the check-in process by sharing necessary digital documents with the airline, ensuring passengers are ready for their journey.
• Contactless Airport Experiences: The potential for a hands-free airport experience, facilitated through biometric gates, from security checks to boarding.

IDnow supported the project with its IDnow Wallet. The IDnow Wallet is used for storing and presenting digital travel credentials, such as boarding passes and Digital Travel Authorizations, such as digital visas. IDnow also provides the remote identity verification solution that is used when the passenger enrolls for digital credentials in the wallet solution.

The LHR-FCO journey serves as a “Proof of Concept” incubated in the IATA Innovation Lab. IDnow remains dedicated to such innovative collaborations that aim to push the boundaries of what is possible in the aviation industry.

Fully automated IDCheck.io passes guidelines for government use cases in the UK

London, September 28, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe, has received the accreditation on the levels medium and high for the UK’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) for its fully automated, AI-based solution IDCheck.io. Valid for two years, IDnow received this badge from government-accredited Digital Identity Systems Certification.

The DIATF is a set of rules and standards designed by the UK government to establish trust in digital identity products coupled with proper governance on how identity service providers (IDSPs) should verify claimed identities via remote methods. Currently, the Framework sets out guidelines and requirements for a few use cases, namely “Right to Work”, “Right to Rent”, and “Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks”.  

Handling identity data in a secure and consistent way

To become certified under DIATF, IDnow was required to adhere to specific rules and requirements. For instance, the identity proofing provider had to ensure that IDCheck.io is inclusive by offering a wide range of accepted identity documents. Certified providers must also follow data protection legislation and ensure that users can easily find out why and how their personal data is stored. Additionally, IDnow was required to have an information management system (IMS) in place that follows a recognized industry standard, such as ISO/IEC 27001.

Finally, the accreditation confirms that IDnow follows best practice fraud management guidelines including regular fraud reporting. Under DIATF, IDnow is able to monitor threats and fraud regularly, and has a way to identify, notify, and assist a user whose identity, attribute, or account has been compromised.

Rayissa Armata, Senior Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow, explains: “In the UK, there has historically been a sense of caution in how an individual’s data is being stored and used. This extends to concern in the systems’ privacy, security, and governance. The Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework should act as a wakeup call for all service providers to prepare for the next generation of digital identity proofing solutions in the UK”.

“The Framework can go a long way to encourage UK businesses to implement digital identity solutions by enabling smoother, more secure online transactions that lead to higher conversion. This will instill trust and save businesses considerable time and money. Because of these benefits, there are likely to be many more use cases across multiple industries released in the coming years. With the accreditation for our AI-powered IDCheck.io solution, we are ready for these developments on the UK market”, she adds.  

Platform solution fights underage gambling and bonus abuse, while preventing money laundering

Munich, September 5, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider, announces the integration of the Brazilian CPF database check (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas, Register of Natural Persons) into its multi-dimensional identity proofing and fraud prevention solution.

IDnow’s platform solution combines the new CPF database checks with automated document liveness capabilities, fully automated Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) services, the latter of which screen against multiple global Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and Sanction lists. To detect single and serial fraud attempts, IDnow’s platform uses proprietary fraud prevention technology that collects risk signals from biometrics, documents, devices and other data sources.

Issued by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Department, the CPF document provides name, date of birth, and situation of CPF, among others, and is needed to vote, enter university, or go into politics in Brazil. The newly added CPF checks provide an additional layer of identity assurance from a trusted, federal source within the IDnow onboarding process.

In addition to the CPF, Brazilian citizens carry numerous kinds of paper-based documents with no standardized or centralized ID scheme from the federal government. Historically, this has made the automation of document proofing challenging. IDnow’s new solution addresses this problem head-on.

“We have collaborated with government and industry experts to ensure our solution delivers high automation for Brazil’s paper-based documents, in addition to an integration with the CPF database. This provides holistic, scalable identity assurance to Brazilian gaming and gambling operators. When designing our solution for the Brazilian market, we quickly realized that without the additional security step of the CPF checks, it would be easy for fraudsters to forge documents. Out of all document proofing solutions, IDnow’s is one of the only ones to implement this check into its document verification process without any extra costs to the operator. KYC should never be a burden, but an enabler and we will continue to focus on that for our customers and players”, explains Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk, Vice President Global Gaming at IDnow.

Seamlessly verify age and protect players, platform, brand and reputation

In light of the recent move of the Brazilian government to regulate sports betting, the market is expected to grow further while operators will be looking for fully compliant solutions that stop money laundering and other financial crime in its tracks.

Redfearn-Tyrzyk explains: “One of the goals of the new regulation is to make sports betting safer for players and platforms by preventing fraud and underage gambling. IDnow’s automated solution with the integrated CPF checks can stop and protect underage individuals from engaging in gambling while still enabling a seamless and efficient onboarding that balances consumer demands for security and privacy without adding friction to their journey. Thanks to our high level of automation and orchestration, gambling providers can drive conversions and increase operational efficiencies while adhering to the new gambling regulations.”

An operator in the online gaming industry, Eyas Gaming, is already partnering with IDnow in the Brazilian market. Andrejs Cuzans, Head of Fraud, Risk and Payments of Eyas Gaming, says: “Some new players who wish to sign up will go through an automated, AI-based document verification process. After having successfully partnered with IDnow in New Zealand, Eyas is expanding the collaboration to Latin America, by relying on the wide document coverage that IDnow provides.”

The PVID certifications issued by ANSSI for the automated IDCheck.io identity proofing service and the videochat-based VideoIdent mark a new milestone in the identity proofing service provider’s desire to become the leading European player on the digital identity market.

Munich, August 1, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe, has obtained the remote identity verification certification known as PVID (prestataire de verification d’identité à distance) on the level “substantial” for its IDCheck.io Identity Proofing Service and VideoIdent Qualified Electronic Signature. A symbol of the culmination of months of collaboration and involvement of all teams, this certification demonstrates the company’s desire to offer its customers solutions that are safe, compliant, and fully in line with the regulations in France.

PVID – European leadership in digital and financial security

In a society where transactions have become considerably digitized and are now mostly done remotely, the risk of identity theft has increased, particularly in the banking and financial sector. This is why the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information, the ANSSI) established a new framework defining stricter requirements of identity verification providers. The new standard leads the way for select identity providers to effectively fight against fraud – a singular goal across rigorous Anti Money Laundering (AML) laws in France and throughout Europe. PVID raises cybersecurity standards for traditional finance, digital finance, trust services, and beyond.

Introduced in March 2021, PVID certifies providers the ability to offer identity verification as defined by Europe’s Regulation on Electronic Identification and Trust Services, eIDAS Regulation. Where eIDAS establishes European levels of security to meet the equivalence of a face-to-face verification for various use cases, PVID implements these levels of security to enable compliant digital onboarding for banking and other financial services in France. The certification, issued for two years, allows highly regulated banking or FinServ players to access a robust, secure service offering, thus enabling remote identification while reducing the risk of identity fraud.

France is the first country in the European Union to have established an effective policy for remote identity verification, and was followed by the work of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) on the ETSI TS 119 461 standard, which pursues a similar purpose.

An undeniable competitive advantage in the digital identity proofing market

As only the second private player to obtain the coveted certification, IDnow has a major advantage in the digital identity proofing market. The certified IDCheck.io Identity Proofing Service and VideoIdent Qualified Electronic Signature offer customers a trusted onboarding process that meets the security requirements of the ACPR (Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution) and supports the fight against money laundering and fraud. The solutions allow banks to offer flexible, simple, and fast digital paths to improve conversion rates through 100% remote identification, equivalent to a face-to-face process.

“Obtaining PVID certification is a source of great pride and validation for IDnow and a real recognition of our expertise in the digital identity market in France,” comments Rayissa Armata, Senior Head of Regulatory Affairs at IDnow.

“As the regulatory landscape aims to extend its reach to additional digital services across Europe, PVID offers national regulators an example of a consistent framework that places privacy and security at its forefront. Beyond France, PVID represents one more step for IDnow in its ambition to offer its customers the most secure solutions certified by reference organizations, such as ANSSI. Standards like PVID or TS 119 461 have the potential to be building blocks for future onboarding regulations across geographies and applications, like digital identity wallets. The experience gained from PVID or our contribution to writing TS 119 461 will prove invaluable, and few companies will be able to advise customers as well as IDnow on navigating in this sphere,” adds Rayissa.

Munich, July 4, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe, has achieved the ISO 27001 certification for IDnow GmbH. With this latest certification, all of the group’s entities that build and operate its solutions are fully certified against this scheme.

ISO/IEC 27001 is an internationally recognized security standard for certifying an information security management system (ISMS). With ISO/IEC 27001, IDnow implements requirements and processes to manage, control and continuously improve the information security of the company.

Following the ISO/IEC 30107 certificate for its VideoIdent solution and the ETSI TS 119 461 certification, this latest certification further underlines IDnow’s efforts in maintaining the highest level of data security and privacy for its customers and partners in the financial services, crypto, mobility, telecommunications or gaming industries.

Secure and compliant digital identity platform

As the identity verification industry is maturing, certifications such as the ISO/IEC 27001 are becoming necessary to assure customers and partners of the quality of IDnow’s platform for identity proofing. The certification encompasses the development, maintenance and operation of secure and compliant identity verification solutions, and signature and complementary services for a digital identity platform.

“As one of the key players in the European digital identity market, security is at the heart of what we do, particularly with regard to sensitive internal and customer data. This certification thus marks a significant milestone in our commitment to delivering the most secure identity verification solutions to our customers and partners. We are all incredibly proud of this achievement, which would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our security and audit teams”, says Armin Bauer, Chief Technology and Security Officer and Co-Founder at IDnow.

New services and checks for use cases regulated by the FCA and UKGC

Munich, June 6, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe, announces the expansion of its platform to include fully automated document liveness capabilities, data checks and Financial Risk Checks as well as new fraud prevention features. The platform expansion will also include a central, no-code workflow management tool.

Document liveness checks to combat the most sophisticated fraud attempts

The automated document liveness check relies on IDnow’s expertise in video analysis and requires the end user to record a video of their ID document, thus enabling an automated check on the visible security elements of the document, such as holograms. This feature helps companies in their fight against the rising risk of fraud through forged documents.

Fully automated KYC and AML services with data checks

IDnow’s new fully automated Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) services, the latter of which screen against multiple global Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and Sanction lists, ensure real-time AML compliance at the onboarding stage while allowing ongoing monitoring to confirm compliance post-onboarding.​ Fintechs, crypto providers and more traditional financial service providers can benefit from a complete alert management functionality and audit history with tailored alert matching.

The new data checks enable a frictionless KYC process which takes just a few seconds, particularly for use cases regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or by the UK Gaming Commission (UKGC). However, they also add an additional layer of security to protect businesses around less regulated use cases, for example, in the mobility industry.

Additionally, the latest platform expansion also includes Financial Risk Checks that use public third-party and self-declared data. These provide gambling companies with insight into affordability indicators which protect online gamblers and comply with the latest updates to the UK Gambling Act, helping businesses to avoid potential fines and reputational damage. The public and third-party data allows for ongoing monitoring of changes in player circumstances and verification of reported income without the need for additional documentation.

A single platform to access data sources and orchestrate KYC workflows in real-time

These new data check capabilities are added to IDnow’s single platform, thus allowing customers to orchestrate both data checks and document- and biometric-based identity proofing workflows. Data checks are required by the responsible regulatory bodies, document and biometric checks can be added for other sensitive use cases for an extra layer of security.

The AML services and real-time data checks are easily configurable via the online self-service orchestration portal which offers complete control to IDnow’s customers. It lets them tailor and optimise data checks and document-based identity verification in one intuitive dashboard via drag-and-drop functionality, thus providing a single entry point for all the new integrated services.

Proprietary fraud prevention technology and a high level of compliance

To detect single and serial fraud attempts, IDnow’s platform uses proprietary fraud prevention technology that collects risk signals from biometrics, documents, devices and other data sources. In addition, IDnow regularly collaborates with law enforcement agencies, providing the company’s dedicated fraud team with the latest knowledge of fraud techniques and methods from around the world.

Bertrand Bouteloup, Chief Commercial Officer at IDnow, said: “With the help of our AI-powered engine, which employs the latest fraud prevention capabilities, we can combat the most advanced fraudsters and allow our crypto, fintech and financial customers to grow their businesses with confidence and be a strong partner for large financial institutions at the same time. Our document liveness feature is clearly a game changer in this market.”

“We are pleased to be able to enhance our platform offering, specifically in the UK, to help our customers fight fraud, achieve compliance and build trust across Europe and beyond. Thanks to these new functionalities and our strong regulatory expertise, our customers can easily expand their services and rely on a platform that achieves compliance according to the most rigid regulatory requirements within the UK, the EU and beyond.”

Collaboration increases IDnow’s document checking capabilities in the air travel industry

Munich, May 31, 2023 – IDnow, a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe, announces its participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) pilot program to further enhance its document checking capabilities in commercial air travel. First established in 2007, the ICAO PKD is a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate electronic Machine Readable Travel Documents (eMRTDs), such as ePassports and electronic ID cards.

Today covering 90 issuing authorities worldwide, the ICAO PKD offers an effective means for countries to upload their own technical data related to ePassports and electronic ID cards and download that of other issuing authorities, thus eliminating the need for bilateral exchange of this data. Essentially, the ICAO PKD takes on the role of a central broker for this technical information while also helping to ensure that the information adheres to the necessary technical standards (i.e., ICAO 9303 specifications) to maintain interoperability.

Security is a top priority in air travel

By joining the time-limited ICAO PKD pilot, IDnow has received temporary permission to read out the data stored in the NFC (Near-field communication) chip of ePassports and electronic ID cards and to use this data in their commercial solutions in the air travel domain.

“Security and facilitation are a top priority in air travel, and identity verification plays a crucial role in any travel security equation nowadays,” says Lovro Persen, Director Document and Fraud at IDnow. “We are therefore very pleased to participate in the ICAO PKD pilot. Being part of this program allows us to verify the authenticity of an electronic ID document and its rightful origin. In addition to our advanced in-house fraud fighting measures, we are thus able to verify that the data on the document’s chip is authentic and that the issuing authority is the one it claims to be. Furthermore, we can extract the embedded portrait photo of the document holder from the NFC chip and use it for biometric verification, knowing that it has not been tampered with,” he adds.  

Saint Malo/La Ciotat/Munich, May 24, 2023 – CLR Labs, a European laboratory dedicated to the evaluation of biometric and security technologies, and LSTI, a conformity assessment body (CAB) specializing in cybersecurity and data protection, are pleased to officially launch their ISO/IEC 30107 conformity assessment scheme, which enables them to evaluate any product or service using biometric technologies. IDnow, one of the leading European identity proofing platform providers, obtains the first LSTI ISO/IEC 30107 certificate for its VideoIdent solution.

The first European certification scheme for biometric technologies

Published in 2017, the ISO/IEC 30107 standard defines safety measures and presentation attack tests on remote identity proofing systems, in order to protect them and prevent these attacks. The conformity certificate is issued by LSTI, based on CLR Labs’ evaluation work –  which involves both presentation attacks and biometric data injection tests, such as facial recognition attacks based on deep-fake technology. Until now, the only certification scheme available was from the United States. In Europe, only compliance projects have been carried out so far.

Therefore, this collaborative initiative is unique in Europe, as it defines a guaranteed level of performance assessment of presentation attack detection given by biometric technologies, acknowledged by the cyber industry.

A partnership between two major names from the cyber assessment and evaluation industry

Together, LSTI and CLR Labs designed a common assessment scheme which can be applied to multiple products and services, such as enrolment stations or kits, border automatic doors, biometric readers, entry-exit systems, digital wallets, Trust Service Providers, and any other biometric tech products.

This conformity assessment scheme allows the European cyber ecosystem to acquire the necessary capabilities to evaluate and certify biometric products including presentation attack detection, with a made in Europe label, thus ensuring the promotion of European excellence in cybersecurity.

The first product certified ISO/IEC 30107 according to this scheme

In this European framework, it is the leading identity proofing platform provider IDnow, who becomes the first company to obtain an ISO/IEC 30107 certificate for its VideoIdent product. IDnow VideoIdent is an expert-assisted video identity verification product that is facilitated by trained agents in conjunction with backend AI controls.

The VideoIdent process validates the user’s face biometrics and performs liveness checks to detect and prevent presentation attacks. The ISO 30107 evaluation certifies that IDnow VideoIdent meets such strict requirements on biometric identification. LSTI has assessed the level of VideoIdent as “substantial”.

Statements from the companies’ representatives

“This certificate is the result of the successful partnership between CLR Labs and LSTI, but also of the amazing conformity upgrade work done by IDnow on their product VideoIdent”, says Armelle Trotin, CEO of LSTI group.

“We were thrilled when we saw the first certificate emitted by LSTI, as building an ISO/IEC 30107 conformity certification scheme in Europe was one of our goals since the creation of our lab”, declares Stéfane Mouille, CLR Labs Director.

“We are excited to have received the certification for the international ISO/IEC 30107 standard. With the support of LSTI and CLR, we were able to successfully test the strength of our VideoIdent presentation attack detection during the biometric capture step of the remote identity verification process. This certification raises the bar for our fraud prevention measures even further and marks an important step for our company in becoming the leading digital identity provider in Europe,” says Armin Bauer, Co-Founder and Managing Director Technology at IDnow.

About CLR Labs, Cabinet Louis Reynaud group

CLR Labs is the European laboratory dedicated to the evaluation of biometric and security technologies founded by multidisciplinary industry experts with a century of experience in biometrics and security based at La Ciotat (France). Many manufacturers, implementers of complex systems and French and European Trust Service Providers trust them to assess their products and solutions using biometric technologies in the context of border crossing, secure payment, physical access control for companies, online electronic authentication and more generally in the field of digital identity management and verification. CLR Labs is supported by TEAM @ Mines Saint-Étienne, the technological maturator of the Ecole des Mines of Saint-Étienne, France.

Press contact CLR Labs:

Stéfane Mouille, Lab Director

stefane.mouille@cabinet-louis-reynaud.fr

+33 (0)6 81 82 35 92

About LSTI

LSTI is a conformity assessment body (CAB) specializing in cybersecurity and data protection. Created in 2004, LSTI has developed a real expertise in information security assessment, and is recognized as one of the major CABs in Europe for the assessment of Trust Service Providers regarding the eIDAS regulation, the ISO/IEC 27001 standard and the French ANSSI standards. Assessing remote ID proofing service providers is rightfully part of their activities, particularly as part of their eIDAS assessment offer. LSTI is a member of Apave Digital since September 2021, and has an European franchise – LSTI Worldwide – based in Ireland.

Press contact LSTI:

Manon Mix, Communications Officer

manon.mix@lsti.fr

+33 (0)6 66 96 35 5

Customers will benefit from centralized offering and new customer portal

Munich, March 9^th, 2022, IDnow, a European provider for identity proofing, will consolidate the comprehensive set of identification verification methods and document signing services into a single platform, to offer customers and their end users a secure, frictionless digital onboarding experience with even more transparency and greater flexibility. 

Customers will benefit from the one-stop solution: companies can now seamlessly adapt, orchestrate, and scale all the identity proofing needs that enterprises and SMBs have through a single provider. This results in optimized conversion rates and faster, more intuitive onboarding for end users.

An essential part of the IDnow Platform for Identity Proofing is the new customer portal, My IDnow.

“IDnow understands the appetites of end users and the range of services that business customers need to satisfy them. Customers will benefit from our customer portal My IDnow, which is the information interface for the IDnow Platform for Identity Proofing, says Vikas Seth, CPO at IDnow. “Customers can actively manage and shape their end users’ identification experiences and diligently monitor verification outcomes using My IDnow. Leveraging the power of IDnow’s identity orchestration, customers can select and combine the identity verification products their end users prefer, offering multiple choices for identity verification,” he adds. 

With the IDnow Platform for Identity Proofing and My IDnow, the company offers deep identity verification insights and analytics, which add even more transparency for companies. Fast integration of the latest security and regulatory standards ensures that identity proofing processes create trust and confidence between all parties.

“Our aim at IDnow is to enable digital identity business models to create high assurance, with maximum trust and security for businesses and their end users. We provide businesses with a unified set of methods to meet every identity verification and document signing need a company has – along with identity management services to effectively orchestrate, customize, and configure the proofing process,” says Vikas Seth CPO of IDnow. “We believe in a strategy that moves far beyond offering a single identity verification method. With our platform, we offer a future-proof solution that complies with different regulatory environments, covers a variety of use cases and anticipates customer needs – it’s as flexible and fast as our digital business environment has become,” he adds. 

Successful year supports IDnow’s journey towards becoming the European leader in identity verification and authentication

Munich, February 23rd, 2022, IDnow, a leading European Identity Proofing Platform, reports another record year, closing 2021 by organically doubling the number of transactions in its core business. The growth rate is fueled by strong momentum in new sales, increased use of the platform among its existing client base and is further supported by the successful integration of ARIADNEXT in France and identity Trust Management AG (“identity.TM”) in Germany.

The acceleration of advanced digital business models has led to a shift in demand from single-product identity verification towards comprehensive identity proofing platforms. IDnow’s acquisitions of ARIADNEXT and identity.TM in 2021 have allowed the Company to seamlessly meet this rising demand across Europe with one of the broadest sets of identity verification methods available in the market.

Andreas Bodczek, CEO at IDnow, commented: “Our goal is to build the leading unified identity proofing platform that meets the multi-dimensional user needs of our customers, whilst meeting stringent and often complex regulatory demands. Through our successful M&A ventures, the IDnow group is now positioned to offer best-in-class products and services that deliver a seamless user experience across an expansive range of geographies and verticals.”

The combined IDnow platform provides a holistic suite of products, catering to the advanced needs of its leading, international clients. In the past year, IDnow added a record number of new clients, including some of the fastest-growing European brands, such as eToro and Lydia. The IDnow platform is used by leading companies globally, with half of the top 20 banks in Europe as well as each of the top 4 relevant telecommunication operators in France and Germany relying on its services.

IDnow has made a series of senior hires in the past year to support the Company’s rapid growth, including Johannes Meerloo as COO, Doug Pollock as Director of Customer Success, Jamie Turner as Vice President People as well as Dr. Heinrich Grave as Senior Vice President Digital Identity. The Company has also opened offices in the UK as well as in the Middle East to cater to regional surges in demand.

“The identity verification and proofing space is experiencing tremendous growth as companies increasingly adopt digital-first strategies. Our automated verification product solutions have proven themselves to be the first choice for some of the biggest companies across Europe, which is a testament to the levels of fraud assurance we continuously offer our customers. Looking forward to the rest of the year, I am very excited about our position in the market. With our holistic identity proofing platform, strengthened team and additional regional locations, we’re in a unique position to offer enterprises exactly what they need from a single source,” says Andreas Bodczek. “I am looking forward to 2022 – a year in which we will continue to bring our three combined companies closer together and strive for increased market leadership as a unified force.”

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 7 February, 2022: IDnow, one of the leading global digital identity verification providers, has announced its launch in the Middle East, with the opening of its new office in DIFC’s Innovation Hub. This is the first IDnow office outside of Europe, adding to its headquarters in Munich, and offices across Leipzig, Düsseldorf, London and Manchester.

The business is targeting the huge Middle East and Africa (MEA) digital identity verification market, which is expected to reach USD 800M by 2025*. It is a rapidly expanding market, with the facial verification sector expected to grow at 20 percent CAGR for the next five years. IDnow’s regional team will be led by Oliver Obitayo, Chief Commercial Officer of IDnow Group and Head of Region – Middle East, Basil Macklai.

On the occasion of its Middle East launch, Oliver Obitayo commented, “The Middle East is a rapidly growing market for digital identity verification, supporting the region’s booming and innovative digital economy. We have been working in conjunction with regional regulators for more than two years, and the time is right to expand our presence with a dedicated team and office. IDnow’s combination of international experience, German-quality standards and in-depth knowledge of requirements across Middle East jurisdictions, puts us in a unique position to serve government, regulators, banks, financial services, enterprises and fintechs.”

More than half of businesses in the MENA region have faced new financial crime risks due to the pandemic, including payments fraud, account takeovers and identity theft. According to a study by Comparitech, in the UAE alone cyber crime claims 166,667 victims annually, losing $746 million, with identity theft and fraud key contributors. McKinsey research highlights financial services as the largest driver of identity verification services. As such, these businesses will account for around 62 percent of digital identity verification spend this year (Juniper Research).

For nearly a decade, IDnow has been developing quality technology that serves some of the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions. The IDnow platform provides a range of secure and seamless products, including its signature IDnow AutoIdent, an automated, AI-powered identity verification. Benefits include reducing onboarding friction, improving customer experience and automating conversion at scale. For banks and financial services, deploying IDnow enhances KYC, AML and regulatory compliance, helping to reduce risk of fraud to protect businesses and their customers.

Aligning with the vision of regional governments to strengthen the digital transformation of the banking sector and underline trust in Middle East financial services, IDnow facilitates greater integration with the global financial system and supports development of legislative and legal frameworks to ensure compliance with international standards.

IDnow is an industry leader and has set the standard for digital identity verification in the EU. It is backed by significant investors including Corsair Capital, Seventure Partners, BayBG Venture Capital, and a consortium of other financiers. The business has also received debt funding from the European Investment Bank, the European Union’s investment bank which is owned by the EU Member States.

London and Manchester, February 1st, 2022: Leading Platform-as-a-Service provider for identity proofing and verification, IDnow, has appointed a new Director of Customer Success to lead its global customer success programme.

Based in the UK, Doug Pollock has joined IDnow following several years in the identity verification sector where he held similar roles, all centred on developing best practice around managing enterprise clients. Doug’s immediate priorities will be on building up IDnow’s customer success programme to deliver increasingly efficient service levels as well as growing his team with the right talent to support organisational growth. He will also focus on the IDnow value proposition to ensure the company can demonstrate effective ROI to its customers.

With more than three decades’ experience in the tech sector, most recently spent in the identity verification space, Doug has worked across a range of sectors including e-commerce and banking systems.

Commenting on his appointment, Doug said: “No matter what sector you are working in, as long as a business puts customers front and centre, then customer success should follow. Throughout my career, customers have always been at the forefront of my mind, and I look forward to bring that customer-first approach to IDnow.

“IDnow is already a European powerhouse in its field. Our next steps will be to expand beyond Europe and to build out our identity proofing platform with NFC-based identity methods and self-sovereign applications. It’s an incredibly exciting time to join IDnow as we continue to invest in growth and innovation.”

Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at IDnow, Sebastian Bärhold, added: “We’re delighted that Doug has joined IDnow, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge around scaling international customer success and service organisations. I am sure that our customers and partners will benefit from his vast experience.

“This is an important time for us as a business and as we continue to grow, we must ensure that our customers continue to receive excellent service. Doug’s focus on putting the customer first will ensure we deliver highly efficient and exemplary service levels to our customers. His deep experience will guide our customers as they embark on or continue their identity proofing journey.”

Doug’s appointment marks the start of a major recruitment drive in the UK as the firm looks to meet the growing demands of businesses, often in highly regulated industries, seeking highly secure ways to verify customer identities. This follows its news last year which highlighted an eightfold growth in the UK compared to 2020 as more companies look to switch to fully digital customer onboarding processes.

Rennes and Munich, Dec. 7, 2021, AutoIdent+QES is an all-in-one solution with qualified electronic signature (according to eIDAS v1) paired with remote identity verification, compliant with the AML-CFT Directive, available on the French market and a real alternative to a PVID service.

IDnow and ARIADNEXT, who recently joined forces (June 2021) with the purpose of becoming the KYC leader in Europe, introduce a qualified electronic signature solution paired with automatic and manual identity verification: AutoIdent+QES complies with KYC requirements of French companies under the European AML/CFT Directive.

As a reminder, many sectors are subject to the AML/CFT Directive: banks, insurance companies, fintech and neobanks, online gambling, etc. As part of their onboarding process (KYC), they are required to implement measures such as verification of the person’s identity document, micro-payment, identity verification by a Remote Identity Verification Provider (PVID) or qualified electronic signature. These measures can be considered as constraining, in the integration of the solution but especially in their impact on the onboarding process for end users, looking for smooth experiences.

The AutoIdent+QES solution, certified by an accredited body, effortlessly orchestrates a hybrid identity verification completed by a qualified electronic signature according to eIDAS. Easily integrated, it enables regulated companies to address their services in full compliance to all types of audiences (even non-banked) and delivers a complete, fluid and fast user experience, with a less than 10 minute onboarding process during which the user proves their identity.

A significant advantage of the AutoIdent+QES onboarding process is its total flexibility: depending on the customer’s needs, the eSign module for digital contract signing can complete the journey by enabling the signing of a contract, paving the way for other use cases, such as taking out a consumer loan in a fully digital process.

“With AutoIdent+QES, our customers, who operate in an ever-changing environment, have the peace of mind and flexibility to choose the solution that best meets their needs,” says Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow.

Marc Norlain, co-founder of ARIADNEXT and IDnow Board Member adds “this certified solution, already available on the European market, offers a real alternative to the upcoming PVID certification in the French landscape. The AutoIdent+QES solution completes our product offering for companies required to comply with AML-CFT regulations and anticipates the upcoming certification of our PVID solution by offering a service that can be deployed by financial institutions”.

Sphonic partners with identity verification platform to offer complete suite of regulatory technology for multi-jurisdicational compliance

London and Manchester, November 23, 2021: Leading Platform-as-a-Service provider for identity verification, IDnow, has announced its first UK channel partner, Sphonic. The partnership will enable Sphonic to offer a suite of RegTech that meets different global compliance standards via a single API.

The partnership comes at a pivotal time for the industry; according to Gartner’s Market Guide for Identity Proofing and Affirmation, by 2023, 75% of organisations will be using a single vendor with strong identity orchestration capabilities and connections to many other third parties for identity proofing and affirmation, an increase from fewer than 15% currently.

“Given the importance placed on orchestration technology in the overall area of compliance, and the regulatory requirements that continue to drive the agenda when it comes to identity and fraud, it was vital we partnered with an identity verification provider that could vigorously meet the varying obligations that exist right across Europe,” explains Andy Lee, Founder of Sphonic.

“By partnering with IDnow, we are able to offer an ever-more integrated solution that brings all identity profiles into one place for more intelligent identity scoring. And when combined with its enviable relationships with European regulators, IDnow was the ideal choice as we continue to deliver great customer experiences to the highest standards of regulatory compliance.”

Known for its pioneering Know Your Customer (KYC) / Know Your Business (KYB) orchestration technology, Sphonic recently launched its real-time Transactional Monitoring System, which allows fintechs, banks and gaming operators to monitor fraud, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and affordability data in a single integrated platform. Its suite of RegTech, including KYC, KYB and Fraud and Risk Management also helps compliance teams to build a complete digital picture of each customer in order to fast-track customer onboarding.

James Hudson-Dale, Partnerships Manager at IDnow, adds: “Anti-impersonation and identity fraud is on a worrying upward trend, making it more important than ever for businesses to ensure they are compliant beyond simply box ticking. Our leading identity verification technology will provide Sphonic customers with the option of imposing additional verification methods to ensure the threshold is high quality and the person is who they say they are.

“As our first channel partner, we’re excited to be working with Sphonic to build a truly unique suite of products, that will bring together multiple data sources to ensure clients can accurately verify identities, combat fraud and meet European-wide regulatory requirements while maintaining flexibility of choice.”

IDnow launched into the UK in 2019 and recently announced eightfold year-on-year growth in the region, with demand for its services rising significantly as industries accelerated digitisation in response to the Covid pandemic. This growth is aligned with the global demand the firm is experiencing, with more and more companies around the world deciding to switch to fully digital application processes.

As part of its high-growth strategy, IDnow has expanded its role far beyond offering specific identity verification products and has become recognised as an overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year, used by over 900 customers worldwide, including Canopy, MYCDD, Entain and ICICI.

Federal Network Agency confirms IDnow AutoIdent as official identification method

Munich, October 14th 2021, the AutoIdent solution from IDnow, a leading platform-as-a-service specialist for identity verification, is listed with the German Federal Network Agency as an officially confirmed identification method. Following VideoIdent, the AI-supported, automated method for identity verification, has thus now also received official proof that it meets the applicable requirements of eIDAS, the VGV and the VDV.

Following the upcoming amendments to the German Telecommunications Act (TKG), this means that IDnow can then also provide telecommunications service providers with an automated identification process.

The official confirmation means that AutoIdent (as defined in Article 24 (1) litera d) of the eIDAS) brings with it the determination of equivalent security, in terms of reliability compared to personal presence. Thus, the IDnow Group is the only German provider with a total of six identification procedures confirmed by the Federal Network Agency.

“The confirmation by the Federal Network Agency that our AI-based solution, AutoIdent, complies with the applicable regulations can be a breakthrough for many companies, especially for the future of digitalization in Germany,” says Armin Bauer, Managing Director Technology and Co-Founder at IDnow. “Automated identification procedures ensure seamless processes without media disruption and increase cost efficiency. By modernizing laws that allow these procedures, many cases can be simplified and modernized in the future.”

This is an important step especially in view of the amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TKG) in December. The modernization of the TKG to implement the European Electronic Communications Code (EU Directive 2018/1972) implements adjustments in the areas of digital infrastructure expansion, consumer protection and public safety.

Furthermore, there is an innovation for identity verification. Until now, only methods involving human interaction, such as postal or video ID procedures, were permitted. The new TKG amendment, §171 (2), now also includes procedures that have been accredited by the Federal Network Agency through a conformity assessment body. A draft of a new order of the Federal Network Agency on identification procedures pursuant to §172 (2) sentence 3 TKG published on October 13, 2021, supplements this innovation by clearly including automatic video identification as a possible identification procedure within the scope of the requirements regulated in the order. For telecommunications providers, this brings great advantages, as they can also use confirmed AI-based solutions. These enable a seamless on-boarding process, which can be done without disruption. This not only leads to a significantly higher conversion rate but also reduces costs through the automated process.

IDnow enables an automated identity verification solution for highly regulated use cases, complying with Anti-Money-Laundering-Law in Europe, including Germany.

Munich, August 12th, 2021, IDnow, a leading European Platform-as-a-Service provider for identity verification, is expanding its automated solution AutoIdent for additional highly regulated use cases, including areas regulated by the Anti Money Laundering Act (AML/GwG), such as banks and financial service providers.

IDnow AutoIdent is an AML Act compliant identity verification solution that operates as an automated process and meets the high-security requirement. It serves a wide range of industries and use cases, such as opening a bank account, signing a loan agreement, or onboarding a player for online gaming. Taking advantage of a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) and existing online bank accounts of the user, it seamlessly blends state-of-the-art technologies with existing identity and banking data into an easy, secure and fully compliant identity verification process.

IDnow AutoIdent including QES, is certified by a conformity assessment body and is approved by an EU Member State National Regulator for issuing QES (Qualified Electronic Signature) according to eIDAS Regulation Article 24 (1) d). The process can include a one-cent-bank transfer, turning it into a fully compliant remote onboarding solution in accordance with the German AML Act – Geldwäschegesetz (GwG), under Section §12 sentence 1 Nr 3. According to the AML law, automated identity proofing in connection with a reference transaction is permitted, pursuant to Article 32 eIDAS.

“Our belief in providing an advanced identity verification platform which increases security improves conversion and streamlines our customers’ onboarding process across geographical borders drives us forward. By making our automated solution AML-compliant with additional regulations, our customers can offer a faster process and therefore a better user experience while ensuring high security and regulatory standards. This gives our customers, who operate in a constantly evolving environment, the peace of mind and the flexibility to choose the solution that meets their needs best,” says Andreas Bodczek, CEO at IDnow.

The IDnow platform, which includes AutoIdent as a building block, effortlessly orchestrates all necessary components into a seamless, secure and AML-compliant identity verification.

Depending on the customer’s needs, the onboarding process offers total flexibility. Further components of the IDnow platform can added, e.g., eSign, the add-on for the digital contract signing opening up additional use cases such as taking out a consumer loan in a wholly digital process.

In recent years, IDnow has expanded its role far beyond offering specific identity verification products and has become an overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year, used by over 800 customers worldwide. In 2021, IDnow acquired the French market leader for identity technology, ARIADNEXT, and the German identity Trust Management AG, enabling IDnow to offer its customers one of the broadest identification solutions through a single, integrated platform.

IDnow makes onboarding even easier with automated KYC combined with real-time AML screening and monitoring

Munich, July 15th 2021, IDnow, a leading European Platform-as-a-Service provider for identity verification, introduces automated AML (anti-money laundering) screening to its comprehensive platform. This feature enables a combined screening of users against certain global watchlists to make a risk assessment and to avoid violating various sanctions. The solution is able to screen a person’s identity against PEP (politically exposed person) lists, sanctions lists, global watchlists and adverse media at regular and self-selected time intervals. This allows the IDnow platform to monitor thousands of AML lists concurrently and in real-time.

IDnow integrates this additional step into its platform in order to reduce complexity and to make the KYC (know your customer) flow smoother, quicker and even more secure. The highly automated process spares companies from uploading data for the monitoring as the information was already collected during the identity check. With the option of ongoing monitoring, based on an individually set rhythm, businesses can maintain current risk profiles of their customers and perform the customer due diligence.

“The new streamlined process accelerates the onboarding flow and offers a better user experience”, says Vikas Seth CPO at IDnow. “The addition of AML screening and monitoring is further expanding the IDnow platform and marks another strategic step on our way to become the leading European platform for all identity needs.”

As a first step, AML screening and monitoring will be offered for IDnow AutoIdent, the automated identity verification solution within IDnow’s platform. Furthermore, it will be offered for all our identification methods in the future.

Over the past few years, IDnow has expanded its role far beyond offering individual ident procedures and has become the overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year. In 2021, IDnow acquired French identity technology provider ARIADNEXT as well as German identity Trust Management AG. This enables IDnow to expand into new industries and offer its services to a broader customer base in Europe.

Munich and Jersey, July 13th 2021. Jersey-based fintech company and provider of secure due diligence document management MYCDD has partnered with IDnow, a leading European identity verification platform provider. IDnow enables MYCDD to offer enhanced and comprehensive identity verification solutions to its global client base.

Through the new solution, MYCDD will be able to offer clients an outstanding and convenient onboarding experience for all their due diligence documentation, while at the same time ensuring high security standards.

The IDnow platform, which is fully integrated into MYCDD’s cloud-based framework, will enable MYCDD to offer a simple and quick way for clients to securely prove their identity. The solution checks ID documents and their security features and verifies via biometric checks if the documents and the people match. The full process only takes a few minutes and ensures seamless usability.

Formally launched in April this year, MYCDD aims to revolutionise how financial services firms, including fiduciary services firms, law firms, and service providers in leading international finance centres, manage their ongoing and wide-ranging client due diligence requirements.

Commenting, Stephane Gimenez, CEO of MYCDD, said: “MYCDD was launched in response to a rise in demand for cutting-edge digital due diligence solutions, with a vision to save financial services businesses time and money by revolutionizing the way due diligence is gathered, managed and shared. Working with IDnow represents a big step in doing that – through the IDnow platform we can offer users a better experience, efficient onboarding and best in class security.”

“User requirements have changed over the past year and fully digital solutions have become more and more important”, added Oliver Obitayo, CSO at IDnow. “It’s great to support companies like MYCDD in balancing high security standards with user friendly, digital processes”, he said.

Over the past few years, IDnow has expanded its role far beyond offering individual ident procedures and has become the overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year. In 2021 IDnow announced the acquisition of identity Trust Management AG, one of the leading international providers for on- and offline verification and French market leader ARIADNEXT. Those acquisitions represent important milestones for IDnow on the way to becoming the leading identity platform in Europe.

IDnow joins IDunion, the network initiative for digital identities funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)

Munich, July 8th 2021, IDnow, a leading European Platform-as-a-Service provider for identity verification, announces its participation in the IDunion network, which aims to build an open ecosystem for decentralised identity management.

For the IDunion network, central aspects of implementation are security, cost-effectiveness, user-friendliness and privacy compliant use of identity data. IDnow has joined forces with other industry experts through IDunion to drive a shared vision of digital identities that is aligned with European values and regulations.

“We are excited to play a key role in shaping the future of digital identities in Europe with our partners at IDunion and looking forward to working together on secure and economical solutions,” says Armin Bauer, Managing Director Technology and Co-Founder of IDnow. “The introduction of a digital identity solution is an important and necessary step for Europe. After the publication of the EU decision on the EU Digital Identity Wallet, we now need to think about a unified infrastructure,” adds Armin Bauer.

Since its foundation, IDnow has been working closely with various regulatory authorities across Europe and supporting standardisation working groups such as the FIDO Alliance or ETSI’s Special Task Force 588 to develop new standards with its expertise.

As one of the European market leaders in the field of digital identification, IDnow is working on a technology to implement digital wallets. With this technology, users’ data is stored securely on the user’s smartphone in compliance with data protection laws. By means of fingerprint or facial recognition (touch or face ID), the data is released for identification. The user retains control over his or her own data at all times. As a certified identification service (“Registration Authority”) according to §24 1 d) eIDAS and as one of the largest providers of eIDs, the online ID function, IDnow is ideally positioned to provide all citizens and companies with an identity within the framework of a digital identity wallet in the future. Within IDunion, IDnow’s goal is to make the wallet technology compatible with the standards of the IDunion network.

Over the past few years, IDnow has expanded its role far beyond offering individual ident procedures and has become the overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year. In 2021, IDnow acquired the French market leader in identity technology, ARIADNEXT as well as German identity Trust Management AG. This enables IDnow to expand into new industries and offer its services to a broader customer base in Europe.

IDnow has taken another big step on their journey to create the leading Pan-European identity verification platform with the acquisition of ARIADNEXT.

ARIADNEXT specializes in offering fully automated solutions based on Artificial Intelligence technology. These solutions enable them to meet stringent regulatory challenges and anti-fraud requirements whilst focusing on optimizing conversion rates and creating a seamless user experience. By combining the existing IDnow platform with ARIADNEXT’s product offering IDnow will be offering one of the broadest sets of identity verification solutions to the European market.

The new comprehensive identity verification platform offers verification options for all users ranging from AI driven to human-assisted technology and from online to point-of-sale solutions. Service capabilities for these products will be increased in the IDnow core markets (Germany, France and UK), whilst new opportunities will open up for international customers with identity verification needs across several jurisdictions and use cases.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, IDnow has seen an extraordinary increase in demand for their solutions. IDnow’s products have been used 200% more compared to last year and many companies have decided to switch to fully digital application processes. The integration of ARIADNEXT will help to meet this rising demand by providing an outstanding, frictionless user experience.

Together we will work towards our clear joint vision of providing European businesses with a one-stop solution for identity verification, offered through a fully comprehensive and seamless identity verification platform.

Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow reveals a few more details about the deal:

What drew your attention to ARIADNEXT?

ARIADNEXT has built its impressive offering on the foundation of state-of-the-art technology, they have great products and a passionate team behind it. Our two companies share the same values of universality and simplicity as well as the constant strive for excellence, and I am excited about what our joint teams can achieve together in the future.

When did you first meet the management team at ARIADNEXT?

I have known ARIADNEXT’s founders Marc and Guillaume since February 2020. I admire what they have built and share their passion for the industry.

Will the founders and the team stay on board?

Of course, the team is the heart of every operation, and we are looking forward to welcoming them into our company as valuable members of the IDnow family. We love being curious and learning from each other on a daily basis.

Will you retain ARIADNEXT’s locations?

Yes, we will retain all locations for now. Firstly, it is important for all employees to retain their working space and in addition to this, keeping a presence across Europe supports our joint vision of becoming a Pan European leader in the industry.

At IDnow, we are also practicing a flexible remote working policy. In most roles you can work from wherever you feel most productive. It can be in the office in Munich – or in Rennes – or in your home office. Perhaps some of the new colleagues want to join us in our Munich headquarters or the other way round.

What are your plans looking into the near future?

We are very excited about the ARIADNEXT’s product offering and integrating our portfolios together. This will be a big step in enabling us to provide a comprehensive solution for all our joint customers and their needs.

We will also be very focused on bringing the companies together – their cultures, their organizational structures and of course the teams. We are accountable for this process and want to make sure all employees in both companies feel secure and also passionate about the acquisition and the future.

What does success look for ARIADNEXT and IDnow like in 5 years’ time?

We have a clear joint vision of creating a leading pan European identity verification platform however, success for us is not defined by an end result but the process of getting there. I would say a strong team spirit, collaboration, trust and achieving excellence in everything we do together.

Armin Bauer, Co-Founder and Managing Director Technology at IDnow

Last week, the EU Commission published a draft for the so-called digital identity wallet “EUid”. According to it, within 12 months of the law coming into force, every EU state must provide its citizens with a digital wallet.

The draft for the “Digital Identity Wallet” states the following: Every citizen will be given access to a so-called digital wallet. They have to identify themselves once and the data will be stored for further use.

In addition to electronic signatures, documents such as birth and marriage certificates or driving licences are to be stored in the digital wallet in future. This goes hand in hand with numerous use cases – from digital administrative procedures such as address changes or tax returns to the use of health services. A possibility that would revolutionise our daily lives.

According to the draft, each country has three options for implementation: either it launches a solution for its citizens and businesses itself. Or it commissions a private company to develop the wallet and make it publicly available. The third option is a government-approved certification programme that allows private companies to certify applications for identification. The exact technical standards are currently still being discussed at EU level. Only after publication of these standards, the member states will be able to start implementing the respective solution. In doing so, they will have to pay attention to two aspects in particular: high security standards as well as a user experience that is as pleasant as possible. This is the only way to ensure that the solution is accepted by as many citizens as possible.

From our point of view, the introduction of the digital wallet is a necessary and right step to simplify the everyday life of citizens and to overcome digital identification borders within the EU. With the new regulation, it is possible to create an overarching infrastructure.

As one of the European market leaders in the field of digital identification, IDnow itself is working on its own technology for digital wallets. With the “IDnow Wallet”, users’ data is stored securely on the user’s smartphone in compliance with data protection laws. Fingerprint or facial recognition (Touch or Face ID) is used to release the data for identification. The user retains control over his or her own data at all times. Due to the zero-knowledge principle, it is not possible for IDnow as a provider to gain access to the user’s data. As a certified identification service by the Registration Authority according to §24 1 d) eIDAS and as one of the largest providers of eIDs, the online ID function, IDnow is ideally positioned to provide all citizens and companies with an identity within the framework of a digital identity wallet in the future.

Munich, 2 April 2021 – The decision of Bundesnetzagentur to allow AI (artificial intelligence) based identification methods for new use cases in Germany is a confirmation of IDnow’s platform strategy and at the same time a turning point in international competition for German technology companies.

With the publication “Video identification with automated procedure” for automated optical identity verification by Bundesnetzagentur in cooperation with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), AI-based solutions for the verification of customers are now approved for certain use cases in Germany in addition to the proven methods. (Order here.)

The published order is based on the German Trust Services Act, which implements the eIDAS Regulation in Germany. The catalogue of criteria published by Bundesnetzagentur and BSI prescribes high technology standards for automated identity verification. IDnow is one of the few European providers that has already been officially confirmed with other methods by Bundesnetzagentur within the scope of an accredited conformity assessment and is now also already working on the confirmation for AutoIdent.

IDnow has been using automated identification technology for many years. With its product IDnow AutoIdent, IDnow is one of the leading providers for automated identification in Germany. As early as 2012, IDnow filed a patent application for fully automated identification procedures, which has been granted by the European Patent Office. “We are pleased that the regulatory authorities have now finally opened up to technological development in Germany and we see our efforts and years of research into the development of our own AI technology confirmed,” says Armin Bauer, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of IDnow. In addition to this patent, IDnow holds other patents and patent applications at the European level.

IDnow’s technology uses so-called Deep Learning to perform an identification at the same security level as a personal identification – for example in a branch. For this purpose, the self-developed artificial intelligence, automatically recognises the security features of the ID documents in a video stream and performs a biometric face comparison of a video selfie with the ID document. This is complemented by new security mechanisms such as a “liveness detection” that prevents attacks through recorded videos and photos.

IDnow sees the regulator’s decision as an important step towards a digital society in Germany and as a fundamental turning point for German companies in international market comparison. The established and very successful services such as the electronic ID card, BankIdent or the VideoIdent procedure can now be supplemented with AI-based AutoIdent methods for new use cases. IDnow expects a significant change for German consumers: The new decree will make innovative technologies such as digital identities accessible to the broad population in the future – regardless of the individual citizen’s affinity for technology. This is because the new regulation enables platform companies such as IDnow to offer the appropriate digital methods for identity verification in each case.

“The decision of Bundesnetzagentur is an important milestone for platform companies like IDnow. In the future, IDnow, as one of the leading European platform providers, will be able to offer additional, automated identification methods to numerous other industries in Europe. This is an essential step towards a digital future in Germany and for Europe and shows that the time for secure digital identities has come,” says Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow. “Consumer security is always at the forefront of the development of our procedures. For many years, we have therefore been actively working with various organisations in politics and regulation to jointly shape this secure, European future,” he adds.

IDnow is one of the leading providers of digital identities with a broad portfolio of products and solutions and identifies several million citizens per year with its platform. The portfolio includes identification methods from offline to online, from automated methods to procedures carried out by identity specialists, available flexibly online, offline in branches and even by a courier at the user’s doorstep. IDnow has expanded its role in recent years far beyond simply offering individual ident methods and has become the overarching platform for digital identities with several million transactions per year.

Just last month, IDnow announced the acquisition of identity Trust Management AG, one of the leading international providers for on- and offline verification. This is the second acquisition in the last six months for IDnow and represents an important milestone on the way to becoming the leading identity platform in Europe. The acquisition of identity Trust Management AG enables IDnow to expand into new industries and offer its services to a broader customer base in Germany and beyond.

by Jacqueline Arlt, Senior Recruiting Manager 

During the last couple of years, IDnow has been growing exponentially, not just in its number of employees, but also concerning market share and global expansion.

Today, we tend to look at IDnow as a scale-up, rather than a start-up. There are a few key differences between those two notations: A start-up is highly experimental with short product and engineering iteration cycles. They are often in the early stages of the funding cycle and haven’t yet figured out which processes work best for them, e.g., in Sales or Marketing. On the contrary, over the course of the last couple of years, IDnow has validated the main building blocks for accelerated growth: product-market fit, a proven go-to-market strategy in its core DACH region, as well as an established business model.

• To be able to ensure the product-market-fit, it is not only essential to understand the market needs, but also how to satisfy those needs in the best possible way: we have proven that our product suite is beneficial to a lot of companies and we completely validated its distribution channels. This is true not only for the financial services sector but also for other market segments like mobility, gaming or insurance.

• In October 2019, we concluded our series C funding round with Corsair Capital LLC as the leading investor. Since then, we have invested in further developing our growth plans – for example, we opened up offices in London and Paris for our 10 colleagues being based in the UK and France. In addition to that, we concentrated on sharpening our technology and on scaling up our team.

• IDnow set out to hire a strong pool of talent. Instead of hiring all-rounders, we started advertising for more focused roles, so that we could boast an array of experts joining across different departments. Moreover, we concentrated on enhanced delegation in hiring department heads and team leads.

• At IDnow, we have an established onboarding process. All new starters take part in a number of sessions with every single department to get fully immersed into the IDnow team. This way, they get introduced to our company culture and mission to make the connected world a safer place. On top of this, all new starters get assigned two buddies – one within the respective department and one from another team – who will support them during the onboarding process.

• Marketing also plays a major role during the scale-up phase. One has to find the right balance between efficiency and volume – plus dive deep into the data and look at the various channels in their entirety. Our Business Intelligence team is playing a key role in enabling the commercial teams to review dashboards each week and, in turn, measure performance.

While focusing on growth the majority of the time, it’s still important to develop the organization in a healthy manner. With some of the changes last year, we put the company’s management on a broader footing. Now we are working with the next level of leadership to empower and enable them to take the company to the next level as a scale-up. The last couple of months have also seen a strong focus on building a comprehensive and robust reporting grid for both operational and financial key performance indicators. Given the complexities of our business in terms of products, technology, and business model, it’s key to perform an in-depth analysis to be able to base decisions and strategies on it.

One of the questions we get asked in pretty much every interview is, “What’s it like working for IDnow?” In short, the culture is really open and collaborative – if you need help, you will find at least a handful of colleagues being there to answer any question you have, and it’s really fun working together. Even though we now have around 130 employees within the core team, everyone still knows each other by name, thanks to the close-knit culture IDnow displays. This isn’t just within the respective team but also between different departments – and even with colleagues based in different locations – thanks to after-work events, workouts and interdisciplinary projects. By now, we have a lot of processes and structures in place, but nothing is set in stone – if you have an idea and want to try a different course of action, then you don’t have to wait weeks for the approval. The management is highly responsive and open, so if you are up for it, you can easily make a great impact at IDnow. Even though we are not a start-up anymore, we have held on to the most important characteristics of it. We want to keep the atmosphere of a young, agile business, and continue to combine it with the benefits of an established company. What’s next for IDnow – what are we working toward?

“The current challenge is to accomplish the scaling phase in a healthy and successful way. IDnow is well-known and established in the DACH region – we have a comprehensive customer portfolio and strong market access. Now we are focusing on the mission to expand this success and the company’s footprint to other markets and industries whilst broadening our product portfolio – we aim to be scalable, replicable and projectable. Therefore you need an experienced and passionate team that’s able to grow in an efficient way,” says Andreas Bodczek, CEO.