Behavioral Biometrics Can Help Payment Providers Meet Reserve Bank of India Guidelines: BioCatch

BioCatch is calling attention to a new set of digital payment guidelines published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The guidelines establish a clear set of standards for the digital payments industry, raising the overall level of security and setting a baseline that financial institutions and other regulated entities need to hit to protect the personal information of their customers.

In doing so, RBI has placed a strong focus on behavioral biometrics. The guideline includes a section on Fraud Risk Management & Mobile Payments Application Security Controls, which suggests that financial services providers should be able to distinguish high-risk from low-risk interactions based on factors like IP location and behavioral patterns. For example, a new account with a high volume of activity could be a mule account.

A good solution should also be able to spot Remote Access Tools and devices that have been compromised with malware, or through some other means. With that in mind, the guideline advises companies to avoid SMS as an authentication method.

For its part, BioCatch argues that its behavioral biometrics platform can help Indian financial institutions meet the new RBI standards. The company’s solution analyzes factors like typing speed and screen pressure to build a unique profile of each user, and flags any deviations from that pattern during subsequent banking sessions. It will similarly observe the account creation process to watch for certain behaviors that have been associated with fraud.

According to BioCatch, India’s new standards will make the country’s citizens feel more comfortable with digital financial services, and make them more willing to use those services in their everyday lives. As it stands, the country’s United Payments Interface has already processed more than 2 billion transactions since it debuted in 2016, and the rate is accelerating after that number jumped from 1 billion to 2 billion over the course of 2020.

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March 2, 2021 – by Eric Weiss