ANNA Money Brings Biometric Re-Authentication to Fraud Fight

• ANNA, a small business banking and tax app for SMEs, has implemented biometric re-authentication strategies to fight fraud.
• The new re-authentication procedures are designed to help combat the threat of Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud.
• UK-based ANNA made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin.

All-in-one business and tax app for SMEs, ANNAhas become one of the first financial institutions in the UK to deploy biometric re-authentication strategies to fight financial crime. The new procedures are being used specifically to prevent fraudsters from using accounts they have accessed illegally.

“ANNA was one of the first in the industry to start pushing these changes live and we continue to make updates and improvements,” ANNA Chief Compliance Officer Leven Li said. “Our random biometric re-authentication program went live this week and we expect that other financial institutions will likely follow our lead.”

The re-authentication process is initiated whenever someone attempts to access an ANNA account on a mobile device that is different from the one used to initially set up the account. When this occurs, a request for a selfie is issued. Insofar as the fraudster will not be able to produce an accurate facial match, the access attempt is stopped and the account is immediately suspended. Additionally, ANNA has introduced random biometric authentication checks that also leverage a customer selfie to re-verify identity.

The new procedures come as new laws designed to stop Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud in the UK came online this week. APP fraud occurs when a person is tricked into sending money to a fraudster who is posing as a legitimate payee. The new regulations require payment services providers (PSPs) such as ANNA to reimburse eligible claims from APP victims when the fraud takes place via faster payments and CHAPs.

And while ANNA currently has a number of strategies to help prevent fraud, including the use of national databases like CIFAs and limiting ANNA accounts to UK residents and businesses, the new requirements are designed to help financial institutions, fintechs, and their customers stay one step ahead of continuously-evolving fraud threats – without compromising the customer experience.

“While these measures are mainly aimed at detecting accounts accessed and misused by criminals who have not been through our Know Your Customer process, there’s no friction at all for our regular customers,” Li said. “It’s just a quick selfie — which we are all used to doing — and it’s keeping our customers and their accounts much safer from day-to-day threats, like fraudsters trying to scam their way in or phone snatchers who try to access accounts by bypassing security protections.”

ANNA made her Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin. At the conference, the company demoed its automated tax calculation solution that manages self-assessment and VAT return. The technology automatically categorizes and reconciles expenses, and calculates VAT and taxes in real time. The solution then completes and submits tax and VAT returns to the HMRC.

This spring, ANNA acquired business spend management platform GetCape for an undisclosed sum. The transaction enabled ANNA to enter the Australian market; GetCape is headquartered in Sydney. The goal of the acquisition was to provide a challenge to Australia’s Big Four banks when it comes to offering expense management and corporate cards to SMEs.

ANNA was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in the UK Boris Dyakonov and Eduard Panteleev are Co-CEOs.

Photo by Evgeniy Alyoshin on Unsplash

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