Israeli biometrics firm scanning LatAm banks, telcos for new contracts

Israeli biometrics firm BioCatch is scanning for growth opportunities in Latin America amid the rise in digital fraud and demand for enhanced security features from major retail banks and telecom operators because of AI scams.

“We currently have more than 180 banks in our client base and around 1.8bn devices being protected. Latin America has been a major vector for this growth and in Brazil alone we have the goal of doubling in size,” Arnaldo Thomaz Neto, country manager at BioCatch in Brazil, told BNamericas.

In its last fiscal year, ending in November 2023, the company reported US$100mn in annual recurring revenue, up 49% year-on-year.

In Latin America, this growth was 61%, it said. The region ended the period accounting for more than 30% of BioCatch's global recurring revenue.

With dual headquarters in Tel Aviv and New York, the company claims to be a specialist in digital fraud and money laundering detection through behavioral biometrics.

The technology combines traditional biometrics with human behavioral patterns, such as typing speed, swipe patterns and mouse clicks in order to detect potential fraud, scams and cybercriminal activities, according to the company.

The firm, founded in 2011, reports having a presence in 14 countries. In Latin America, its main markets are Mexico, Colombia and Chile. 

However, its operation in Brazil is still relatively small. Part of Neto's goal is to increase its market in Latin America's largest economy and step up services provided to the country's financial institutions, he said. 

Neto was previously employed by banks Bradesco and Itaú, and tech firms IBM, Oracle and Netscout, among others.

Overall, Brazilian banks are expected to invest around 47bn reais (US$9.1bn) in technology this year, up 21% from 2022, according to banking association Febraban. The biggest slice is expected to go to cybersecurity, followed by cloud and AI.

BioCatch is currently investing in new hiring new commercial staff and analysts in Latin America, according to Neto.

Worldwide, BioCatch's solutions are reportedly used to protect more than 350mn banking customers and more than 9bn monthly user sessions.

In the last fiscal year, the company said it added 78 new clients to its customer base, including 29 of the world's largest retail banks in terms of assets.

Biocatch also claims to offer its products to one of the three biggest telecom providers.

Neto does not give details of its clients in the region, but states that they include some of the biggest banks. Globally, the company tends to be very discreet about its customer base.

AI THREATS

A big focus of the company is on the rise in AI scams.

In a newly released report on AI-focused fraud and financial crime, Biocatch said that nearly 70% of the 600 fraud management, anti-money laundering, and risk and compliance officials it surveyed stated that "criminals are more adept at using artificial intelligence to commit financial crime than banks are at using the technology to stop it."

Most of the respondents also said that their organization is rethinking the use of voice-verification for big customers due to AI’s voice-cloning abilities, according to BioCatch.

Furthermore, over 70% of those surveyed say their company identified the use of 'synthetic identities' while onboarding new clients in the past year.

“Artificial intelligence can supercharge every scam on the planet," BioCatch director of global fraud intelligence, Tom Peacock, said in a statement.