Category: Financial Services

Ekata

When Identity Verification Becomes a Double-Edged Sword

Original author is Kurt Weiss, Director of Enterprise Sales at Ekata The financial system’s reliance on antiquated identity verification is a double-edged sword, cutting into both new revenue streams from the underbanked while exposing financial institutions to increased attacks from synthetic identities. The underbanked, those without sufficient access to financial institutions, represent a key […]

3.17.2021

Ekata

Are Your Authorization Rates Leaving Money On The Table?

Recently, Ekata’ CEO Rob Eleveld spoke at the MasterCard Global Risk Leadership conference to an audience of issuers. His session, titled “The $100B Opportunity,” focused on a key issue: how to increase authorization rates. In the name of convenience, more customers are shopping online, via apps, or over the phone where they’re unable to present […]

5.8.2018

Ekata

How Online Lenders are Using Non-PII Data to Fight Fraud

Personally identifiable information (PII) like name, address, email, DOB, and the linkages between them is the traditional way most online lenders make funding decisions. But non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) can be equally critical in reducing fraud. Non-PII is data that cannot be used to identify a person on its own. This includes data like device […]

2.7.2018

Ekata

The Need for Speed at Money 20/20

We attended the Money20/20 conference in Vegas a couple weeks ago to talk to payment service providers, credit card brands, merchants, and other companies about Ekata’s lightning-fast identity verification APIs. Money20/20 describes itself as the space where technology meets money, money meets people, people meet ideas and ideas become reality. The Vegas conference is the […]

11.7.2017

Ekata

The Good Borrowers Inside the Belt

Online lenders are not risk averse. With average default rates looming around 30%, they’re conditioned to accept a certain amount risk. However, the reward (in the form of high interest rates) makes the risk of potential default worth lenders’ while. The one risk lenders cannot tolerate is fraud. We know that roughly 1 in 3 […]

6.8.2017

Ekata

The Identity Credit Connection

For years in the U.S., the Social Security Number has been the gold standard in identifying and verifying the credit history of prospective customers. But as financial institutions look to reach new and untapped markets, the legacy SSN may give way to a modern and potentially more secure string of digits: the cellphone number. Consumer […]

4.21.2017

Ekata

New Identity Check Interface!

Technology changes quickly, and here at Ekata we move fast to deliver industry-leading global identity verification products to our customers and partners to stay in front of fraud. Ease and speed are vital to our product development process so we can help businesses identify legitimate customers, prevent fraudulent transactions, and smooth new customer account creation. […]

4.19.2017

Ekata

A Hummer or a Hybrid? Identity Verification in Lead Generation and Origination in Online Lending and FinTech

How are you growing your online lending business? Is your lead gen program a Hummer getting 6 miles to the gallon? Or is it a hybrid Lexus SUV with equal clearance, greater comfort, and 26 mpg? If yours is like dozens of our online lending customers’ businesses, you are spending out your ears on lead […]

2.7.2017

Ekata

Turning Data into Decisions — Rules, Scores, and Machine Learning

Every data point that is captured on a lead form, loan application, or new account creation is a piece of potential intelligence that can be used to make better business decisions. Whether that means reducing fraud, improving lead conversion, or finding the right balance between identity verification and signup friction, it’s crucial to understand the […]

11.1.2016