Document and facial biometrics verification firm Onfido has received a £5m grant from UK Banking Competition Remedies.
UK Banking Competition Remedies, or BCR, is an independent body established to implement the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) State Aid Alternative Remedies Package.
Onfido said the new funds from BCR will enable Onfido to invest in the development of biometric fraud detection, data anonymization, and document fraud prevention technologies.
This will occur concurrently with the development of portable identity (PID), in order to integrate these technologies and provide a service which minimises the impact of the KYB (know your business) process on SMEs.
Out of nearly 100 applications, Onfido is one of six organisations receiving a share of the grant which has a combined value of £20m.
Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder of Onfido said: “At Onfido, we’re transforming the accessibility of financial products and services for SMEs.
“We pride ourselves on leading discovery and innovation of artificial intelligence technologies applied to identity verification and are honoured to receive the grant to further invest in the technologies that are creating a more open and inclusive online world. We view this as a critical issue as we enter a more digitised era where an individual’s identity is the key to access.”
The London and San Francisco-based, which was this week named in BusinessCloud’s London Tech 50, secured a $100m funding round in April and revealed plans for a ‘coronavirus passport’.