Ekata nabs Technology Excellence Award for API - Payments

Its Account Opening API stops fraudsters from establishing a presence in a firm’s user base.

With various firms across different industries amping up their digital game, particularly during a global pandemic that moved most transactions online, customer experience and fraud have become key concerns for businesses. In an effort to reduce fraud and streamline the onboarding process for new customers, Ekata introduced its Account Opening Solution that identifies potential fraudulent actors from good customers during the account opening process.

Designed to support customer onboarding strategies, Ekata’s Account Opening Solution helps businesses increase conversions by confidently identifying customers, reducing unnecessary friction and enhancing the customer experience (CX) whilst simultaneously eliminating fraud.

Launched in 2020 for financial services companies, the Account Opening Solution helps reduce application abandonment with its flexibility to tailor a more efficient workflow for applicants whilst ensuring identity accuracy. Given the success in the financial services industry and the rise of ecommerce, Ekata expanded its solution to online businesses and marketplaces in 2022. The solution helps detect fraudsters before they can set up an account, preventing them from further engaging on a platform or transacting. 

By only requiring phone or email and an IP address to make a risk assessment, companies can use Ekata’s new solution to maintain low-friction sign-up flows that don’t require customers to enter their name or physical address. As the system uses predictive signals and risk scores, fewer ‘good’ applications are sent through the lengthy step-up authentication processes, reducing the burden on manual-review teams as well.

Thanks to its efforts that enable financial services and eCommerce merchants to take proactive measures in weeding out potential fraudsters and high-risk applicants, Ekata secured the API - Payments award at the recently concluded Singapore Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review. In its fourth year, the awards event lauds companies in Singapore that have pioneered ground-breaking IT products, solutions or initiatives that are leading the technological revolution and digital journeys of their respective industries.

“Online consumers demand streamlined experiences. When that expectation isn’t met within minutes, consumers won’t hesitate to apply for an account at the next bank,” Tom Donlea, VP & General Manager for APAC, Ekata highlighted. “To a financial institution, the balance between consumer friction and fraud detection is even more acute when assessing the thin-file or unbanked consumers who are often missing key documents.”

Using the Account Opening Solution, a global Fintech company providing a Buy Now, Pay Later (BPNL) payment platform optimised their onboarding workflow to reduce friction for good customers and block fraudulent and high-risk applicants early in the onboarding process. 

“The company faced the challenge of putting too many good customers through high friction flows,” Tom explained, adding that prior to implementing the Ekata solution, the company did not have a risk-specific identity verification in place.

Through a joint testing collaboration effort in implementing Ekata’s Account Opening Solution, the company was able to evaluate risk at the forefront of account creation. The company was able to assess the riskiness of each applicant using Ekata’s proprietary risk scores and signals, and as a result, was able to identify customers of different risk levels and separate them into appropriate levels of step-up authentications - effectively creating a seamless experience for lower-risk customers.

Ekata, a Mastercard company, focuses on providing digital identity solutions and products that are used in multiple use cases, including account opening and transaction processing. Ekata’s solutions have empowered thousands of businesses and partners to combat cyber fraud, and enable an inclusive, frictionless experience for its customers in over 230 countries and territories.

Ekata opened its Asia Pacific office in Singapore in February 2020, and some of its customers in the region include AirAsia and humm group.