Modern businesses rely on a web of trust that includes partners, suppliers, customers and various third parties. Running checks to verify the entities you do business with is both a smart risk-mitigation strategy and a regulatory compliance requirement for many industries.

Criminals have developed numerous schemes that use fake companies to perpetrate fraud and expand the scope of potential targets. After all, companies can deal with hundreds or even thousands of customers so that fraudulent companies can cast a wide net for their questionable activities. Some of these schemes include:

• Phishing Sending out fake emails to try and collect information…

The convergence of open banking regulations, API integrations and fintech business models is enabling Banking as a Service (BaaS) as a new financial opportunity. BaaS is a business model where banking services are outsourced to third parties. Banks can act as platforms, providing their services to new digital banks or other organizations. It can also work the other way, with fintech companies offering their services to banks.

Stemming from open banking regulations, BaaS uses secure API connections to share customer data and applications in a seamless experience. …

The online economy is rapidly creating new consumer options and business opportunities. Unfortunately, these same systems are also enabling fraudsters and cybercriminals just as quickly. Organizations need to ensure their remote identity verification processes can effectively distinguish between good consumers and bad actors — and protect all the valuable personal information that consumers give them.

The costs of security and privacy are considerable. According to Aite Group, losses from identity theft cases rose 42% in 2020 to $712.4 billion in the U.S. alone. Various cybercrimes are estimated to cost $6 trillion in 2021. …

For billions of individuals around the world, digital identity became critical in 2020. As a result, the global identity verification market, which was already growing rapidly to support the digitalization of a whole host of industries, is now booming.

With vast numbers of people forced online to access healthcare and financial services, purchase groceries and consume entertainment, the ability to verify and protect digital identity has become central to everyone’s ability to survive and function during the pandemic. …

Low-code development lets you create software code through a graphical user interface (GUI) and configurations, instead of traditional hand-coded computer programming. It gives people with limited or no programming knowledge the ability to develop an entirely operational application. A game-changer in the software world, low-code development speeds up the delivery of applications and optimizes development teams.

According to Outsystems.com, more than 300 vendors and platforms offer various types of low-code solutions. As Steve Hasset of GT Software states:

It’s well known that low-code platforms increase agility in app development. Low-code platforms are also available for the integration of legacy mainframe…

The regulatory environment around the world continues to change and shows no signs of slowing down. Many of these regulatory changes require companies to verify the businesses and Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) they interact with — a process commonly referred to as Know Your Business (KYB).

KYB verification requirements are creating additional pressures for financial institutions and other regulated entities, including:

• Complying with various Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws and directives, like the Corporate Transparency Act in the U.S. or 5AMLD in the EU
• Protecting customer data and privacy
• Controlling costs
• Avoiding lengthy delays and onerous processes that could negatively impact…

Open banking is a game-changer for the API economy. For the finance and banking industries, as well as payments, insurance and marketing, open banking represents a new frontier in the digital economy. Its potential for innovation, creative disruption and greater efficiency inspires optimism, but challenges remain. Customer messaging and audience education will be a priority as new ideas take time to permeate the public consciousness.

Open banking deserves to be the way of the future, but fintech companies and their partners must work hard to see its promise come to fruition. …

Identity verification is a new and thriving industry. The field is rapidly evolving as tools become increasingly sophisticated and the regulations that drive its usage become more rigorous. In fact, we’re at a crucial point in the industry’s development. To get a better understanding of where it was and where it’s going, OWI and Trulioo hosted a roundtable, which resulted in a white paper, The Evolution of Identity Verification in the Marketplace. Roundtable topics included:

• How fraud prevention efforts have evolved
• Where major consumer concerns lie
• Methods companies have taken to build digital identities

Tools and rules for flexible and innovative solutions

The digital economy, as we know…