Sponsor Interview: Mike Kiely, Sales Director for Financial Services at IDnow

With a vision to make the connected world a safer place, IDnow is a leading identity proofing platform provider in Europe. 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.

IDnow will be silver sponsors at FinTech Connect Europe this year at the ExCeL, London on 30th November - 1st December and ahead of the event, FinTech Connect caught up with Mike Kiely, Sales Director for Financial Services at IDnow, to discuss his biggest achievement, the main challenges your clients find when it comes to regulatory reporting, and the factors which have to be considered when partnering with RegTech companies.

Please give us a little introduction on your current role and what you do.

I am the Sales Director for Financial Services at IDnow, which is a leading identity proofing platform provider, founded in Munich in 2014. In my role, I help drive IDnow’s substantial growth ambitions in the financial sector in the UK and globally, and as a leader in the identity proofing industry as a whole. My role signifies IDnow’s continued efforts to establish a substantial foothold, particularly in the UK’s flourishing financial services sector. My decade long experience in the data and biometrics market contributes to the company’s expansion ambitions in the UK and helps them become a reality.

What do you consider your biggest professional achievement to date?

It's very important to me that my team is successful as a whole. I genuinely enjoy it a lot more when everyone involved is being awarded for their hard work. It creates a unique team spirit that usually lasts for a long time. Winning as a team makes every success sweeter and to me that is the biggest achievement.

What are the main challenges your clients find when it comes to regulatory reporting?

How do you predict this will change/not change in the next few years? IDnow is active in the KYC sector, which is a highly regulated area. Financial institutions and banks are limited by law and regulations in what processes they can use to establish whether the customer is who they say they are. One of the main challenges is that these regulations vary strongly according to geography. Even within the European Union these laws are not aligned. This makes it more difficult for our customers who are operating across borders and who have to adhere to varying rules and regulations in the markets they serve. And yet, while we have a long road ahead, we do see a number of efforts within the EU to harmonise regulations, for example, with the European Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) or the 5th AML directive (AMLD5).

At the same time, we can already observe that digital methods such as video and biometric verification, and the use of electronic signatures, are increasingly being accepted by regulators across geographies. This acceptance shows the increased trust placed in eKYC processes and its ability to deliver more secure KYC.

When partnering with a RegTech company, what things must be considered?

For consumers the onboarding process needs to be as easy as possible to optimise conversion rates. The modern consumer demands a smooth onboarding experience and expects to be able to transact online securely. Consumers might not remember a great onboarding experience with their financial service provider; however, they will remember a terrible experience – or even worse, they will abandon the process right in the middle of it. The solution chosen needs to balance fraud prevention with managing friction for their end customers to provide an excellent onboarding experience.

IDnow has one of the broadest identity proofing portfolios in Europe with fully automated and hybrid solutions. For example, we offer an AI-based solution, AutoIdent, which helps businesses proof the authenticity of their customers through their identity documents in a matter of seconds in the majority of cases, making the digital onboarding process scalable, secure and highly assured. The solution offers conversion rates of up to 90 percent. In addition, we also have VideoIdent, eID, and NFC-based solutions in our portfolio, alongside proof of address and AML checks. In a nutshell, you could say that we provide every FS business with a tailor-made solution and customise the solution to their needs and requirements, including their design ideas and KPIs.

What issues do you expect to impact regulatory pressures in the coming years?

Money laundering, identity fraud, and other types of financial crime continue to pose a significant threat to the stability of not only the UK’s, but the global economy. To prevent these, regulations and AML programs are regularly updated to reflect new techniques and changes in criminal behaviour. Regulators are fighting to control the existing range of financial services offerings, as well as the new digital assets including cryptocurrencies, digital exchanges, NFTs and so on. We therefore expect to see more regulation in the future and regulations converging between countries.

Cybercrime and financial crime are on the up – what can FIs do to continue adapting and protect themselves?

What are your predictions for the next few years? Yes, cybercrime and financial crime are on the up and consumers are aware of this. For example, a recent study carried out by Research Without Barriers on behalf of IDnow showed that cybercrime and digital bank fraud are the issues that concern UK adults the most when it comes to online bank account opening. It is therefore the responsibility of the banks and fintechs to not only consider how their actions are minimising and mitigating risk in this area, but also how they disseminate information to the wider population, enabling them to educate current and future banking customers on their robust security systems.

Prior to this, banks and fintechs must first ensure their systems and processes are as secure as possible, and that the technologies they are deploying today will be fit for purpose tomorrow. Many of the digital challenger banks have made their processes slicker and more customer-friendly, and the word is spreading. People want to be kept safe by the systems, but they also want them to be easy to use.

What exciting technologies do you see emerging within RegTech? How can FIs take advantage of this?

Improvements in technology, artificial intelligence and connections have already made so much more possible than we thought a few years ago. eKYC began by simply moving documentation collection and verification online. It now involves many automated processes and technologies, including video-based verification and artificial intelligence-based techniques. It now refers to the full digitisation of the KYC process: This includes not just paperless customer onboarding and checking of identity, but ongoing KYC and AML monitoring, and more advanced techniques, such as digital signatures. In the future, further changes to processes, data collection and storage for customer due diligence, as well as data sourcing for more advanced checks, are likely on the way.

FIs will be able to benefit from these advancements in multiple ways: Onboarding and verification of customers with eKYC can take place in minutes rather than days or even weeks when compared to manual processes. Moreover, verifying customers in real-time is great for the customer experience. Financial institutions and banks want customers to be able to access products and services as quickly as possible, and the customer wants an easy and smooth experience that is robust and secure. Ultimately, faster and improved customer experiences lead to an increase in the conversion rate of end customers – a key measure for any financial institution.

Want to hear more from IDnow? Hear from Richard Maton, Executive Board Member, International RegTech Association, Francisco Martins, Senior Executive Financial Services, IDnow who will be joining the panel discussing Operational risk and efficiency - meeting requirements while creating a seamless customer experience on the RegTech track at 12:20 on day 2 of FinTech Connect Europe.