Secure biometric authentication technology firm iProov has enjoyed record-breaking growth in the first half of 2021.
From January to June 2021, the London-headquartered company saw a 15x increase in the number of people verified using its technology versus the same time period last year.
Its flagship Genuine Presence Assurance technology solidified its global market leadership, with verifications growing at a consistent rate of 25% per month worldwide.
This has been driven by demand from organisations needing to verify the identity of online users to prevent fraud. iProov’s patented technology assures the genuine presence of an online user to ensure they are the right and real person.
iProov has been profitable in 2021, while at the same time growing its worldwide team by 25% to 85 staff. In April, the company welcomed cybersecurity veteran Paul King who joined iProov’s advisory board following 27 years at Cisco, most recently as Chief Security Officer.
It has also added major customers and partners to its portfolio spanning government, health, travel, financial services and ID providers, including selection by the Australian government to provide the liveness solution for myGovID. Millions of Australians will be able to strengthen their digital identity using a simple face scan on their mobiles, providing access to a range of government services, including online tax services.
“In the first half of 2021, iProov has secured users’ identities online and protected major organisations from fraud on a vast scale across the globe,” said founder and CEO Andrew Bud.
“The dramatic acceleration in the digital identity market, caused by the pandemic, has demonstrated our market leadership based on our unrivalled usability, inclusiveness and resilient security, and the extraordinary scalability of our platform.
“I am continually impressed by the remarkable work of the iProov team in successfully rising to the many challenges created by such transformative growth.”
iProov’s existing service to NHS Digital in the UK became even more crucial this year. Since 2020, iProov has enabled users in England to create an NHS login remotely and securely.
A user scans their identity document, such as a valid passport or driver’s license, and then completes a brief iProov face verification to confirm their identity, giving them secure access to the services of the NHS App. Since May 2021, this has included the COVID vaccination status service.
In January 2021, iProov announced a collaboration with its partner, Mvine, to trial private COVID status certificates. The solution enables an individual to register a test result or vaccination status and then securely share that status without disclosing their identity, using either paper or a smartphone.
The trials, which took place in care and education settings, were backed by investment from Innovate UK and showcased how biometric verification could greatly simplify the checking of COVID status credentials while enhancing user privacy.