BioCatch, an Israeli startup that uses behavioural biometrics to authenticate visitors to banking and e-commerce sites, has raised $10 million in a funding round. BioCatch aims to eliminate passwords and authentication dongles for online banking and shopping, replacing them with a system that recognizes users by how they physically use their computer or tablet. The firm’s technology collects and analyses over 400 bio-behavioral, cognitive and physiological parameters based on how people type and move a cursor around to create unique profiles for visitors to sites.
In addition, the system creates invisible challenges for visitors to sites. For example, when a user moves the cursor towards a button, they are deliberately knocked slightly off course and subconsciously have to correct in what the company says is a way unique to them. This, argues BioCatch, is more secure than traditional authentication methods, demonstrating an 80% reduction in false positives for detecting the same amount of fraud. It also significantly reduces friction for the customer because the system automatically kicks in when they visit a site using the technology. BioCatch says that it has signed up several unnamed banks and e-commerce sites, and that it will use the new funding to push on in North American and Europe as well as to expand R&D efforts. Funding will also allow to continue strengthening BioCatch offering and expand global reach in strategic markets, while keeping the world’s largest and most influential institutions safe and secure.
