The Future of Digital Identity Verification 

Interview with Andreas Bodczek, CEO of IDnow

The digital revolution is making a significant impact on every industry, and IDnow, being the leading provider of Identity Verification-as-a-Service solutions with more than 250 customers including N26, Commerzbank and UBS, has impressively boosted digital transformation in the financial industry and beyond. We sat down with their new CEO Andreas Bodczek to discuss how IDnow is pushing the boundaries of the digital identity market.

Thank you so much for your time, Mr Andreas Bodczek. We would like to congratulate you on your new appointment as IDnow’s new CEO. Certainly, being busy is about having amazing opportunities and potentials, as such we are interested in knowing how you jumpstart your day?

An ideal morning combines an early morning workout and breakfast with my kids, before heading off to the office. Time with my family is a source of great energy for the whole day for me.

Being IDnow’s CEO curtails a great responsibility, especially now that you are expected to help IDnow’s 100 million euro sales target and to expand the business in Germany, France and U.K. What is your action plan in hitting this goal?

I have followed the company since its inception, worked with the team on various projects and am excited to join this fast growing company in this thrilling phase. IDnow is built upon the passion of our team and it will be my job to continue to foster this whilst preparing the company for the next stage of growth.

These are exciting times for the digital identity market in general and for IDnow in particular. As you have read in recent press coverage, we have ambitious goals that we want to achieve. We have built a unique platform for digital identity verification, that is based on state-of-the-art artificial technology. Pair this with a team that is both passionate and experienced and you can rest assured that you will hear a lot about IDnow in the upcoming years.

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Being the leading provider of Verification-as-a-Service solutions to different industries, IDnow has played a significant role in disrupting technology with the use of Artificial Intelligence. Can you tell us more about how you use the AI technology in your services, particularly how it works with IDnow VideoIdent and IDnow AutoIdent?

AI is used in all of our products to enable online identity verification with the highest security standards. We use AI throughout the process including the verification of ID document, extraction of ID data as well as biometric and liveness check of the individual.

The PSD2 requires the banking industry to invest in technology that would meet its stringent requirements on security and seamless consumer experience, and IDnow has become a trusted provider by large, international banks of these services. Can you share with us the key and unique features of IDnow’s platforms that set you apart from other Verification-as-a-Service providers?

IDnow provides a highly developed AI-based technology. It is very important for us to put as much effort as possible into training and refining the technology and creating an outstanding AI product, which gets better every day.

We have been working on this technology for several years now. Our AI has been trained to such levels of perfection, that it is even able to check the security features, like holograms, in real time.

And we go one step further: We combine the advantages of AI-based technology with the human factor – our specially trained agents. They improve the system by an important component: intuition and knowledge of human nature.  This is what we call the hybrid model. In our experience, this leads to results that cannot be matched in quality by having a system that relies purely on technology or purely on human agents.

Our clients receive all of these benefits bundled into a single platform, built for the enterprise. They integrate the IDnow API once and are all set for secure identity verification throughout several jurisdictions, use cases and regulations. The IDnow platform is able to handle both the current and future requirements of our clients out-of-the-box.

What new products or features does IDnow intend to introduce in the market under your leadership?

The speed of the identification process will continue to be an important topic for us in the near future. If you look back a few years, it took you several days until you legitimised yourself with an offline procedure. Now it can be done in real-time. We are pushing hard here to drive this progression forward and to become even faster.

Another important topic is security: The need for a safe platform and a safe product grow steadily. Internet fraud is on its way to become one of the biggest crime issues in the world and it costs companies tremendous amounts of money. We have a strong focus on security and even have our own fraud prevention team. Our clients value this and we will continue to invest heavily in this area.

If you are interested in the most recent trends in identity fraud, you are welcome to download our “SECURITY REPORT 2019 – How to fight identity fraud” on our website: https://www.idnow.io/news/security-report/

How do you see the identification management services evolving in the future? What are the significant changes and innovations you foresee and how does IDnow prepare for these developments?

The whole industry is growing very quickly. Every month we are expanding our platform to cover new use cases and markets. The ecosystem has understood that it is of utmost importance to have secured digital identities. But at the same time, consumers have a strong focus on convenience and simplicity.

If you combine both requirements – security and a focus on seamless, conversion -optimised processes – you arrive at what we call “Secure Growth”.

We believe that this trend to achieve secure growth will continue to be the main driver in digital identity management. We want to be the provider of choice when it comes to these requirements. Together with our clients, we are on a mission to make the connected world a safer place.

As the CEO, aside from reaching IDnow’s growth target, your leadership will also be measured on how you effectively take care of your employees’ well being. How would you value your employees at work?

Our employees are the most important part to reach an ambitious goal like ours. IDnow is built upon the passion of our team and it will be my job to continue to foster this.

Furthermore, it’s a personal concern to me that our employees have everything they need to do their job the best possible way. That starts with healthy drinks and snacks during the day, sports programmes, home office opportunities, great equipment and a modern office in the centre of Munich.

On a lighter note, what is your mission in life? Can you also share with us your favourite life mantra?

My favourite personal mantra is: “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.” I believe that no one is limited by her/his past and that everyone can reach her/his goals no matter how big they are or how often they have failed while trying in the past – just try again.

One of our values at IDnow is “Making the impossible happen” That’s very much in line with my personal attitude and my mantra.

Thank you Mr. Bodczek, it was a pleasure speaking with you.

About the Interviewee

Andreas Bodczek is the CEO of IDnow. He is a passionate tech entrepreneur and a seasoned boardroom executive. He backs fellow entrepreneurs as an active early-stage tech investor. He is also a Point Nine Capital board partner.