HooYu, the UK KYC and customer onboarding specialist, has been acquired by San Diego-based digital identity firm Mitek.

The acquisition will result in a merger of HooYu’s KYC and customer onboarding capabilities and Mitek’s digital identity, verification and fraud prevention operations. 

Mitek aims to leverage this to provide businesses, such as betting and gaming operators, with the ability to know the true identity of their customers via biometric verification and real-time bureau and sanction database checks.

By acquiring HooYu, Mitek will gain access to its range of products and services including the HooYu ID, whilst also strengthening its position in Europe due to the new acquisition’s UK base and operations in major markets such as Germany.

HooYu CEO Keith Marsden said: “Having a single platform that easily orchestrates and configures a KYC journey to manage identities and identify bad actors is becoming a prerequisite for any business transacting digitally.

“Bringing together Mitek’s lead in identity, liveness and biometrics, with our orchestration, configuration and journey services simplifies identity management for financial institutions.”

Mitek aims to enable its customers to further optimise workflows and accelerate the deployment of identity solutions across various channels by leveraging HooYu’s orchestration tools. 

The firm believes its provisions will be significantly bolstered by the merger, notably combining biometrics, ID document validation, geolocation and identity confidence with real-time data signals such as bureau checks or matches to politically exposed persons on sanction lists. 

In Mitek’s view, the rise of cryptocurrency and NFTs and increased regulation “means criminals have more avenues and more incentive” to conduct money laundering, requiring fiscal businesses to strengthen their identity verification capabilities.

“Our current geopolitical, commercial and technological environment represents a perfect storm for bad actors,” remarked Max Carnecchia, CEO of Mitek Systems.

“Mitek is leading the fight against fraud by providing the technology that businesses need to stamp out digital money launderers and sanctioned individuals,” 

“The only way to combat this scourge is to use artificial intelligence (AI) and stop bad transactions before they happen.”