• Victor Fredung, CEO at Shufti Pro


• 17.02.2020 07:29 am

Financial IT caught up with Victor Fredung, CEO of Shufti Pro.

Financial IT: Could you please tell us more about Shufti Pro and your background?

Victor Fredung (VF): Shufti Pro is an AI-based identity verification services provider. Our KYC/KYB and AML screening solutions powered with biometric authentication enable businesses to screen their customers in real-time. Our solutions can deliver 98.67% accurate verification results within 15-60 seconds.

As for me, I joined Shufti Pro back in 2018. Earlier, I spent many years in the financial and technology industry. Having founded several successful fintech companies, I’ve witnessed the evolution of the financial industry. My experience in the financial and tech industry has helped me a great deal in understanding the KYC market.

Financial IT: What is special about Shufti Pro and how does it differentiate itself in today's market?

VF: Shufti Pro is the only entity that initiated the fusion of HI (Human Intelligence) and AI(Artificial Intelligence) in the digital identity verification industry.

It has experienced substantial success and growth in recent years. Within three years, Shufti Pro has opened offices in five countries, including the recent addition of the Dubai Office.

Another noteworthy point is that we believe in delivering the best customer experience, as it is the primary idea behind the creation of Shufti Pro, our support team is quite vigilant. We believe in ‘more for less’ model, our services are equally efficient but with competitive prices making us stand out.

Financial IT: What is the state of play of the AML and KYC processes within financial institutions?

VF: Financial institutions are obligated to comply with KYC and AML laws. Being in the financial industry raises risks due to the nature of services. The history of KYC/AML traces back to banking when the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) was implemented.

The primary security concerns of financial institutions are money laundering and terrorist financing. While the sources of this risk are customers and employees. I came across a United Nations report stating that the annual amount of globally laundered money is equivalent to 2-5% of global GDP. Most of the time, financial institutions are used for this purpose. 

Banks are opting for automation for customer experience but surprisingly, most of them are lacking in automating their security protocols. This is a loophole that needs to be filled.

Without any doubt, most of the banks are practising strict KYC/AML compliance but they are not integrating technology quickly enough. In a few years, digital KYC/AML screening will become mandatory for banks to grow, retain customers, and to beat the competition.

Financial IT: What are the current cybercrime trends arising in the financial services industry and how does Shufti Pro help customers prevent financial crime?

VF: Cybercrime has evolved with the evolution of technology. Now that we’ve entered an era of digitization and cloud spaces not to mention these advancements have security loopholes, the major risk is that criminals are aware of these and know where to attack. Major cybercrime threats are spoofing attacks, synthetic identities, data breaches, and account takeover fraud. Account takeover fraud was up 76% in 2018. Shufti Pro’s identity screening solutions are built to fight these scams with the help of artificial intelligence. Our solutions perform verifications in real-time and enable the banks to onboard remote customers while fulfilling regulatory obligations.

Financial IT: To conclude, what is next for Shufti Pro?

VF: We are always improving and innovating Shufti Pro’s solutions. Currently, we’re just about to launch a new service “video-based  KYC” that holds primary significance for financial institutions. Video-based KYC will allow the financial institutions to onboard customers from around the globe through live video calls with their customers.

Also, increasing customer awareness regarding the significance of digital KYC and AML screening is one of our goals.