The mobile credentials management company Jumio Inc. has launched Face Match, a new capability available within its Netverify identity verification platform. Face Match helps Jumio's Netverify customers assess the extent to which a photo on an ID presented during a mobile or online transaction matches the customer's actual face, the company said, which is meant to help businesses more effectively and easily identify customers and protect against fraudulent activity.

"Our new Face Match technology provides another layer of safety and convenience for Netverify clients," Daniel Mattes, Jumio founder and CEO, said in a news release. "We can now not only determine that the actual identification is in-hand and valid, but that the person holding the card is the same person as in the picture. This renders 'person-not-present' transactions to be effectively as secure, or more so, than a traditional 'person present' transaction. This is an important step in combating fraud and helping our clients meet a variety of KYC regulations and practices."

Businesses using Netverify with Face Match add two "primary source" authentication factors to their account origination or transaction security protocols, the company said. That is, in addition to standard username and password (something you know), Jumio adds scanning and validation of original ID credentials (something you have) and Face Match (something you are) to deliver a comprehensive, near real-time consumer authentication experience.

Jumio customers have the option to activate Face Match as a feature within Netverify to provide an additional layer of protection for all transactions or selectively apply to higher-risk customers or transactions, according to the release.

"With Netverify we can identify and authenticate customers in near real time, with a degree of confidence that was previously unattainable with online transactions," Jesse Powell, founder and CEO, Payward, and a Netverify customer, said in the release. "Given this new level of fraud protection, we are able to safeguard accounts, while increasing ease of use for end user customers at the same time."

Netverify integrates into consumer-facing apps or websites to scan and validate passports, driver licenses and ID cards issued by more than 90 countries, the company said, and eliminates the need to handle and store paper records. The new Face Match authentication factor is designed to detect transaction attempts made with stolen or manipulated credentials.

Jumio CMO Marc Barach told TechCrunch that Face Match is being offered as a part of the overall Netverify package, which is priced on a recurring monthly fee basis based on the number of transactions. Barach said Jumio has more than a dozen clients testing Face Match, but he could not name them because of non-disclosure agreements.

As TechCrunch noted, Jumio uses smartphone cameras to "see" and read what a document says, but does not store or save the data, such as credit card numbers, to company servers.

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