When verifying an identity, in addition to conducting a “liveness” check to ensure a real person is holding the device, Jumio will require users to follow an icon on the mobile device screen with their eyes as it moves in a random pattern. This technology will be available to all Netverify users, including banking institutions, sharing economy providers, online gaming and travel companies.

UK identity fraud reached record levels in 2016, with the 172,919 incidents reported to fraud prevention organization Cifas making up 53.3% of all recorded fraud. As more businesses and devices (mobile phones, ATMs, etc.) add biometrics capabilities like fingerprint and iris scans, fraudsters are finding new ways to “hack” these technologies. Eyeball tracking sets the bar even higher, making it incredibly difficult for hackers to imitate.

“Fingerprint and iris scans give consumers a false sense of security. Just in May, hackers demonstrated they could beat the Samsung 8 iris scan,” said Philipp Pointner, VP of Products at Jumio. “This is a technology arms race. The addition of eyeball tracking makes it exponentially more difficult to imitate someone you’re not, giving businesses and consumers a higher level of trust.”

The UK is expected to make purchases worth £27.02 billion via mobile payments this year, an increase of 26 per cent from £21.51 billion in 2016. In the US, Mobile wallets are projected to out-pace the use of credit and debit cards by 2020, according to WorldPay. Mobile purchases create an environment where “card-not-present” fraud is a real threat for both businesses and consumers, whose identities may have been stolen. To reduce risk of fraud, Jumio pioneered a hybrid approach to verification that incorporates checking ID (government-issued documents), identity (biometrics and eyeball tracking), and documents (bank statements, utility bills, etc.), as well as scrutiny from real identity experts in addition to automated technology.

“The addition of eyeball tracking makes Jumio’s Netverify the most sophisticated ID verification solution in the market,” said Stephen Stuut, CEO at Jumio. “As businesses increasingly rely on mobile interactions with their customers, it is critical that they have a way to meet Know Your Customer requirements, while keeping the user experience frictionless. Jumio seeks to both combat fraud, which can cost businesses time and money to track down and remediate, while delivering a simple, fast experience that consumers expect.”