Biometrics Leadership Profile: FacePhi

A Leader in Biometrics, Security, and Elections

Founded in 2012, FacePhi has been a pioneer in selfie-based biometrics, helping to establish this technology as one of the most popular approaches to online authentication today. And as selfie authentication has ascended, FacePhi has expanded, broadening its portfolio of authentication solutions and reaching into new market areas.

Before turning to the full range of solutions offered by FacePhi today, however, it’s worth taking a close look at the flagship solution that helped to establish FacePhi as a leader in the biometrics industry: SelphID. Originally dubbed “Selphie”, the system was one of the first of its kind when it emerged in the middle of the 2010s. Using facial recognition to match an end user’s selfie photo to their image on a piece of official ID, the solution enabling reliable remote identity verification using nothing more than a standard smartphone camera.

The selfie-based authentication solution helped to blaze a trail, allowing Spain-based FacePhi to develop a strong customer based domestically and in the LATAM market that it would come to dominate over the past few years. It also paved the way for FacePhi’s expansion into new areas of technological innovation.

To InPhinite and Beyond

In 2018, FacePhi officially announced a bold new platform of secure authentication solutions. Dubbed “InPhinite”, the platform comprises a range of technological approaches suitable for a number of different applications:

Selphi: Facial recognition for the purpose of access control or transaction authorization.

SelphID: Facial recognition combined with document reading, enabling remote identity verification and onboarding.

Look&Phi: An authentication solution based on eye biometrics, enabling access control and transaction authorization.

PhiVox: FacePhi’s voice biometrics solution, enabling voice-based access control and transaction authorization, and suitable for call center applications.

SignPhi: FacePhi’s e-signature solution, which can be used on mobile or PC devices, entirely through the web and without any need for software downloads.

Clearly, InPhinite is a comprehensive platform, developed in collaboration with important industry partners. At the time of its announcement, FacePhi CEO Javier Mira declared that InPhinite would “mean the consolidation of our position within the biometric security market in financial entities.”

Growth and Global Expansion

As its ascent has continued, FacePhi has grown not just technologically, but geographically. Having established a strong presence in the LATAM market, the company launched an APAC-focused subsidiary in 2019. Headquartered in South Korea, FacePhi APAC has already won over multiple new clients, establishing a solid foothold in the market.

Other signs of FacePhi’s growth abound. In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic that brought the global economy to a standstill, FacePhi more than doubled its staff, and acquired the document recognition specialist Ecertic. And at the end of the year, the company attracted €33 million in new financial backing to help supercharge its growth phase.

It’s no wonder that FacePhi won Spain’s National SME Award for 2020, presented by Banco Santander and the Chamber of Commerce of Spain. And going forward, it’s fair to expect that the company will continue to enjoy a rising profile thanks to the booming popularity of selfie biometrics, and the range of alternative solutions offered through FacePhi’s InPhinite platform.

Learn more about FacePhi by visiting its page on The FindBiometrics Directory.

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FacePhi is a sponsor of the 18th annual FindBiometrics Year in Review. Catch up on our biggest event of the year with our roundup of interviews, podcasts and survey analysis.