Biometric ID Verification Solution Aims to Help Immigrants with Their Credit Scores

Mobile identity verification solutions company Mitek and credit reporting startup Nova Credit have announced a partnership that aims to help United States-based immigrants establish U.S. credit by allowing them to use their international credit history through remote biometric authentication.

A recent Pew Research study shows that non-U.S.-born residents make up almost 14 percent of the country’s population, with another nearly 15 million temporary residents in the country.

Combined, these two groups make up a disproportionately large portion of the “credit invisible” population, a group defined by the substantial challenges they face in accessing products and services in the U.S. despite many of them having a well established financial history in their previous country of residence.

By integrating Mitek’s Mobile Verify platform to its own Credit Passport solution, Nova Credit is able to allow applicants to verify their identity remotely while also allowing lenders to identify and mitigate risk and ensure compliance with American Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations.

Mobile Verify lets applicants verify their identity via their smartphones by submitting a photo of their official government-issued ID along with a selfie. The system uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and facial recognition to match the photographs between the two submissions, and allows lenders to authenticate an individual’s identity in minutes and link it to their pre-existing credit history.

With its Credit Passport, Nova is able to accelerate the integration of a prior credit history to an individual’s American identity, granting them access to a credit score that would otherwise take years to build up.

“As a dual citizen who was once an immigrant to the U.S. myself, I know firsthand how intimidating it can be to create a new life in a new country,” says Mitek Vice President Cindy White. “I’m inspired by Nova Credit’s solution and thrilled that Mitek can help newcomers more easily verify their identity so that they can establish credit to open accounts, ensuring trust and convenience for all.”

“The world has become more interconnected than ever, yet financial institutions still find it difficult to access and verify consumers’ data when they move countries,” says Nova Credit CEO Misha Esipov. “Our new partnership with Mitek not only makes it easier for newcomers to apply for these products online, it also simplifies KYC requirements for banks.”

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September 28, 2020 – by Tony Bitzionis