Digital identity data provider
Seattle-based Ekata says the lack of commercial records for new businesses has made it difficult for payment providers and lenders to quickly approve them with traditional methods of risk assessment.
“Merchants today have plenty of options and will quickly turn to another payment service provider if an organization adds too much friction at onboarding or takes too long on approvals,” Beth Shulkin, Ekata’s vice president of global marketing, said in a Wednesday press release. “This is much more than a customer experience issue for PSPs and lenders; losing the lifetime value of a merchant has real bottom-line impact.”
Ekata enhances existing models with risk indicators that show fraud likelihood based on a mix of comprehensive customer data tests and best-practice considerations. By providing unique data that cross-checks the connection between businesses and the individuals behind them, Ekata says its new merchant onboarding solution enables organizations to confidently assess risk at scale, automate onboarding workflows, and reduce time spent in manual review.
Because the global pandemic resulted in a growing trend of individuals establishing their own small businesses, the need for faster onboarding allows payment providers to compete with
Ekata cited U.S. Census Bureau research from October of 2020 in which it stated third-quarter small business applications rose more than 77% from June through September.
In addition to providing risk profiles for micro merchants and sole proprietors, the Ekata system routes good customers for automated underwriting. It essentially allows businesses to shift low-risk merchant applications away from the friction of seeking supplemental documentation or manual reviews.
Even if a provider takes an application under manual review, it can quickly view a set of individual and business data that cuts down on research time and the need to seek out multiple data sources.
The Ekata Identity Engine and its accompanying graphs and network data is in operation with businesses across the world, including Alipay, Microsoft, Stripe and Airbnb, to aid accurate risk decisions about their customers.
