Identity verification specialist Onfido today announces that leading crowdfunding platform Indiegogo is using its AI-led identity verification to ensure that fraudsters are kept off of the Indiegogo platform.

With financial services moving online, it’s increasingly difficult for businesses to know their customers. With almost $4 billion pledged via crowdfunding in 2018 so far, the potential losses can be substantial. The reputational risk is high too, as consumers have an entrenched fear of fraud around the platforms.

Indiegogo chose to use Onfido to keep potential fraudsters off its platform and build trust within its user base. By verifying new users at the point of sign-up, they now have more assurance that people are who they claim to be, making it harder for bad actors to join the site. Thanks to Onfido’s AI-led tech, legitimate campaigners can now be quickly onboarded to Indiegogo. Indiegogo campaigners now take a selfie and a photo of their identity document; Onfido first checks that the government ID seems genuine, and then matches it to the user’s face.

With millions of international users accessing the platform every month, global coverage was a key deciding factor for Indiegogo. Onfido was uniquely positioned to provide this global support due to its position as the leading identity verification provider in Europe, and offices in the USA, Lisbon, New Delhi and Singapore. Onfido also offered more granular results than other providers, enabling Indiegogo to make informed decisions about onboarding potentially high-risk users.

Kerry Baker, Head of Trust and Safety at Indiegogo, said: “Building trust in our community is a top priority at Indiegogo, and Onfido helps us achieve that. By ensuring we keep fraudsters off our platform, not only can we avoid hefty non-compliance fines, but our users also have more faith that their money is going to the causes and innovations they really believe in. No other provider was able to deliver the global coverage, sophisticated technology and consistent support that we get from Onfido – so we’re really excited to be working together”.

Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder of Onfido, said: “In an online world where we no longer meet face to face, it’s difficult for businesses to know if customers are who they claim to be – and how to create a secure community for their users. Identity verification is key to solving this problem and we’re very proud to be working with Indiegogo as they build towards fraud-free crowdfunding.”