Financial technology is a vast and ever-evolving field and companies must keep pace with the latest security trends and regulations. Keeping digital transactions away from criminals and malware has become an increasingly difficult task. A Dutch startup called Fourthline is aiming to tackle this problem head-on: the AI-based startup recently secured €50 million (about $54 million) in funding to expand their ID verification, anti-money laundering and other security tools.
Finch Capital led the financing and undisclosed investors also participated. Since their launch in 2018, Fourthline grew 80% each year and established popular clients ranging from N26 to Wish. This confidence in the project is well deserved, as their technology enables customers to go beyond basic security checks. Their system incorporates over 200 checks, which range from biometrics to verifying user data like place of residence.
Fourthline also sets itself apart by using their own development and proprietary data sets rather than third-party APIs. This approach allows the company to have more control over the quality and accuracy of their results. In addition, the artificial intelligence-based system can detect roughly 60% more fraud with an accuracy rate of 99.98%.
CEO Krik Gunning pointed out that the authentication side of the project alone requires much investment. Fourthline’s system goes beyond simple optical character recognition (OCR). They level up with: checking for tampering, verifying names against lists and understanding the basis for authentication. All of these features take deep investigation and time to create.
Given its current focus, Fourthline is unlikely to venture into credit scoring. Instead, they are concentrating on providing financial institutions in Europe with their effective KYC and AML services. This narrow scope gives the company more control over their technology, ensuring users get the best possible experience.
Investor Radboud Vlaar of Finch Capital is a big believer in Fourthline’s strategy. He noted the company’s “platform approach using proprietary technology” as one of the reasons for their success. It seems that Fourthline’s focus on providing quality results is paying off for both investors and customers alike.
Fourthline is a Dutch startup with the goal of providing financial institutions with the most secure and efficient verification tools. They are focused on developing their own in-house technology and steered clear of third-party conforming APIs. With their intensified focus, customers can access higher accuracy rates, as well as improved user experience. Recently, Fourthline raised $54M in funding led by Finch Capital to further expand their offerings to the finance sector. The company CEO and co-founder, Krik Gunning, has noted that the company has invested heavily on the authentication side, incorporating over 200 checks spanning biometric data to verifying user data. Through the utilization of Artificial Intelligence, Fourthline’s system can detect 60% more fraud with an accuracy rate of 99.98%.
