FacePhi Provides Biometric Onboarding for Mibanco Customers in Latin America

FacePhi continues to solidify its grip on the Latin American market. The facial recognition specialist has revealed that it is providing biometric onboarding services for Mibanco, which is the largest microfinance bank in the region.

Mibanco is specifically using FacePhi’s SelphID solution to secure its own mobile application. SelphID uses facial recognition to compare a selfie of the user to an image on a photo ID, with document recognition to ensure that the document is legitimate.

With SelphID, Mibanco can quickly and reliably verify the identities of new customers during the onboarding process. The solution makes it easier to create a new account and access other financial services, which will in turn raise financial inclusion for underbanked people in the area.

According to FacePhi, the partnership helps meet the growing demand for remote options during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing people to sign up for banking services on a mobile device without ever setting foot in a branch location. Mibanco had more than 260,000 mobile users at the end of 2020, and is now hoping to add 150,000 users to that total in the first half of 2021 based on its early success with SelphID.

“We have registered a 352 percent growth in the signing up process for our mobile application,” said Mibanco Channels Manager Augusto Paz López. “We went from signing up 9,000 clients in March to 41,000 in October and we have closed 2020 with more than 260,000.”

“Quick access to socially responsible sources of financing is key for small entrepreneurs, so making their management as easy as possible is even more important than in other financial services,”  added FacePhi LATAM and Iberia VP Jorge Sanz. “The use of biometrics as a tool to eliminate financial barriers to SMEs and entrepreneurs is a clear example of tech for good.”

FacePhi has provided biometric onboarding services for dozens of financial institutions in Latin America. The company recently partnered with TuSueldoYa to facilitate cash advances in Peru, and previously did the same for Interbank and Banco de Crédito del Perú. FacePhi doubled its staff in 2021, and is currently moving forward with international expansion plans after securing €33 million in financing, a sum that includes a €20 million investment from Nice & Green.

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February 17, 2021 – by Eric Weiss