Facephi Brings Biometric eKYC to Japan Through Hancom Partnership

Spanish biometric technology company Facephi has made its formal entry into Japan through Hancom, its exclusive Asia-Pacific partner, with Cyberlinks becoming the first Japanese enterprise to deploy the companies’ combined identity verification platform for commercial eKYC applications.

The move formalizes a commercial arrangement that has been building since May 2024, when Hancom and Facephi signed an exclusivity agreement covering the APAC region. Under that deal, Hancom acquired a 7% stake in Facephi for 5 million euros and secured a three-year licensing arrangement. Since then, Hancom developed a Japan-focused portfolio combining its own AI capabilities with Facephi’s biometric engine, targeting secure document processing, automated decision-making, and financial-sector authentication.

Hancom AUTH, the resulting SDK and platform, now powers Cyberlinks’s identity verification and non-face-to-face authentication workflows. Cyberlinks, a Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed cloud services provider, is using the platform to support both face-to-face and remote eKYC, covering identity verification needs across public and private sector clients. The solution incorporates real-time liveness detection and deepfake resistance, two capabilities that have become table stakes in markets where regulators and enterprise buyers increasingly require protection against AI-generated presentation attacks.

The contract with Cyberlinks marks Hancom’s first overseas AI contract, a milestone the company has framed as validation for its Japan-specific market strategy. Hancom has established a dedicated Japan entity and formed a joint venture with Tokyo Kiraboshi Financial Group, positioning it to participate in both financial sector deployments and broader government-adjacent identity programs. ID Tech covered Hancom’s supply agreement with Cyberlinks when it was first reported, noting the company’s longer-term Japan commitment.

For Facephi, Japan represents a significant international validation. The company serves clients in more than 30 countries and recently made its biometric identity suite available on AWS Marketplace to simplify global procurement. Japan’s AI market is projected to reach US$41.2 billion by 2031, growing at a 26% compound annual rate from 2025, with government identity programs and financial sector authentication representing core demand drivers.

Javier Mira, CEO of Facephi, called Japan “one of the world’s most demanding digital identity markets” and said the deployment underscores “the scalability, reliability and security” of the company’s technology.

Sources: Globe Newswire

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By Ji-seo Kim