Plaid Adds Enhanced Anti-Fraud Engine to its Identity Verification Solution

• Plaid added a new anti-fraud engine to its Plaid Identity Verification (IDV) solution.
• The addition leverages autofill to accelerate sign up and help reduce manual errors. The technology also assesses device behavior and the way users input their personally identifiable information (PII).
• Plaid announcement comes in the wake of news that the company is expanding in Europe.

Open banking innovator Plaid has added a new anti-fraud engine to its identity verification solution, Plaid Identity Verification (IDV). The anti-fraud engine supports a faster verification process to boost both conversions and signups. The new addition also assesses behavioral risk to better defend against emerging threats and strategies from fraudster and financial criminals.

The new tool comes months after Plaid launched its identity verification solution, and is the product of Plaid’s work with “hundreds of digital finance companies” in industries ranging from crypto and neo-lending to proptech and banking. Not only did Plaid’s work with these firms underscore fraud as a “top challenge.” it also highlighted two chief values that companies have when it comes to improving security and anti-fraud protection: a fast and secure onboarding process and a fraud defense regime that is capable of evolving to meet new threats.

To enhance the onboarding process, Plaid’s new tool offers an autofill experience that makes sign up seamless without compromising security. Customers in the U.S. only need to enter their date of birth and phone number when signing up, and Plaid’s autofill technology auto-populates with full name, address, and social security number and other information associated with the user’s phone number and birthdate. The autofill feature accelerates the verification time for customers from 30 seconds to as little as 10 seconds. Plaid also noted that its autofill feature can improve conversion by up to 20%.

The new anti-fraud engine also assesses device behavior and the way users enter their personally identifiable information (PII) to detect a range of behaviors that are associated with fraudulent actors and bots. The tool analyzes the speed and pace with which PII is entered, the order in which data is imputed, whether the data input method is copy and paste, and more. By monitoring these behaviors during the sign up process, Plaid’s new anti-fraud enhancements will help users of Plaid Identity Verification accurately verify customer identity, reduce fraud incidents, and meet compliance obligations.

Plaid’s announcement comes in the wake of big expansion and partnership news for the company. In August, Plaid reported that it will be expanding its operations in Europe. The company now offers its open banking capabilities in both Spain and Portugal, and provides clients in Germany with data connectivity services. The move comes with the addition of a pair of new Payment Service Provider (PSP) partners: Norbr and GlobePay. Plaid anticipates launching operations in other European countries soon, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Also in August, Plaid announced a partnership with fellow Finovate alum Wise (formerly Transferwise). The deal will enable Wise customers to access to more than 6,000 apps courtesy of Plaid’s open finance core exchange, launched earlier this year. Venmo, Chime, and Truebill are among the apps that Wise customers will be able to select and add to their digital platforms.

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