Trulioo this week announced that its flagship identity verification solution, GlobalGateway, now covers all BRIC—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—countries.

These are regions where B2C ecommerce growth rates are expected to grow faster than more advanced markets such as the US and UK.

“We focused efforts in securing data sources in these particular markets due to the significant growth in cross-border commerce, which has been made possible by Internet penetration and mobile technology,” said Jon Jones, President at Trulioo. “These emerging markets of today are ripening to become the main markets of tomorrow, and require versatile identity verification tools to do so.”    

The BRIC countries have about 41 percent of the world’s population, and the emerging middle class in these countries topped 1.2 billion people last year, according to eMarketer.

“The next billion offers one of the biggest growth opportunities for global businesses,” added Jones. “Our clients can now expand into these new markets and onboard new customers from the emerging middle class easier and faster than ever before.”

GlobalGateway connects Trulioo clients to more than 145 data sources in over 45 countries to provide instant ID verification for over 4 billion consumers through a single API integration.

Next month, Trulioo will be participating in a Fintech Mission to Brazil. Organized by Global Affairs Canada through the Consulate General of Canada in Sao Paulo and the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program, the mission’s objective is to establish Fintech specific R&D collaboration and co-development opportunities between Canadian and Brazilian companies toward future commercial benefits for both countries.

Trulioo now offers real-time identity verification coverage in India.

Announced at Money20/20, Trulioo says it is working with various enterprise customers adding ID verification services in the region, where there has been a surge of e-commerce and other economic activity.

“Jumping 16 spots in the World Economic Forum’s global rankings for competitiveness, India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy,” said Jon Jones, President of Trulioo. “Businesses from around the globe are making a beeline for India and we are helping them tackle one of the biggest challenges by streamlining their regulatory compliance process from both within India and across multiple jurisdictions.”

With the addition of India coverage, Trulioo clients now have real-time access to over four billion identities from over 40 countries through its GlobalGateway platform.

“We are committed to providing our clients with greater efficiency, effectiveness and agility by streamlining their AML/KYC process,” said Jones. “Using the REST architecture, Trulioo’s Normalized API is built for scalability and flexibility to meet our clients’ demand for interoperability and growth into international markets.”

Founded in 2011, Trulioo’s clients include Square, PayPal, and Kickstarter.

Callcredit Information Group, which specializes in fraud protection and customer verification services, this morning announced a strategic partnership with Trulioo, a global identity verification provider specializing in anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer compliance.

According to the two companies, the partnership will combine complementary data and technology to deliver fraud prevention and AML/KYC identity verification solutions to the market.

With the ability to cover over three billion people in more than 40 countries, Trulioo’s online identity verification service, GlobalGateway, powers fraud and compliance systems to help increase trust and safety online.

“We have an increasing number of customers within our expanding client base who operate beyond the UK across multiple regions therefore it is essential that we are in a position to deliver international capabilities, particularly when it comes to identity verification,” said John Cannon, Solutions Director Fraud & ID at Callcredit Information Group. n on both a domestic and international basis.”

“Identity verification has become a vital part of every smart business’ operations, especially with the growing popularity of peer-to-peer marketplaces where both buyers and sellers taking part in the sharing economy want assurance that the person they’re dealing with is who they say they are,” said Stephen Ufford, Founder and CEO of Trulioo.

Founded in 2011, Trulioo is headquartered in Vancouver.

Data breaches and other forms of cyber crime are on the rise, as are fraud and corruption. These threats pose menacing risks to both businesses and governments.

Trulioo, a U.S.-venture-backed Canadian technology company that provides bank-grade electronic identity verification for businesses worldwide, is experiencing significant growth as a result of this trend.

We spoke with Zac Cohen, Trulioo’s first-ever General Manager, who was recently hired to help scale the company’s operations and teams for its unprecedented growth to find out more about his new role and the future plans for Trulioo.

TV: What are your responsibilities as Trulioo’s new general manager?

ZC: I work closely with our leadership teams to develop cooperative and dynamic processes that are aligned with the company’s strategic business and organizational goals. I also collaborate with [CEO] Stephen Ufford to develop, execute, and manage new business development strategies and growth for the company.

TV: What is behind Trulioo’s rapid growth as a company?

ZC: In today’s digital world, it’s no surprise that verifying identities online is big business. Delivering a bank-grade AML/KYC compliant solution creates growth opportunities for innovative companies like Trulioo who bridge that digital divide. We are seeing a significant increase in demand for risk mitigation solutions, and a greater need for versatile technology that satisfies international regulatory compliance obligations.

In industries like financial services, regulators are getting tougher on companies that fail to meet strict compliance requirements, issuing record fines to major international banks. Elsewhere, we’re seeing widespread data breaches at big box stores like Target, Home Depot, and more. Even in emerging markets there’s a huge opportunity as the middle class’s online presence grows rampantly, and their desire for financial inclusion gains momentum.

Overall, identity verification has become more important than ever for businesses to protect themselves and their customers from fraud, and to ensure that companies operating within regulated industries remain compliant. At Trulioo, we’re continuing to build out effective operations and business development strategies that enable our teams to collaborate and scale across these market opportunities worldwide.

TV: Who are your customers?

ZC: Trulioo’s customers come from all over the business spectrum. We work closely with businesses in eCommerce, financial services, banks, insurance, travel, gaming, and peer-to-peer marketplaces.

TV: How does Trulioo help businesses protect against fraud?

ZC: One example at top of mind is how Trulioo’s identity verification service, GlobalGateway, protects online gaming businesses from fraudulent withdrawal attempts. One such customer saw a patron request a payout, but after entering their identity information into GlobalGateway the results returned was “Not Verified.”

See, unlike other services, we don’t just return a score when verifying identities. Instead, GlobalGateway presents a comprehensive matrix matched against legitimate source information, such as citizen records, credit header data, and government-issued ID document databases, that show you exactly what portions of ID data were matched, or not, and based on a customizable rule set, return an easily interpreted and highly effective ‘Verified’ or Not Verified result.  This allows our customers to make the most informed decision about whether or not someone is using a legitimate identity.

As a result of the investigation, our customer confirmed that the patron’s identity was suspicious. Authorities were notified and no payment was made. GlobalGateway saved our customer $6,000 that would have otherwise gone to a fraudster.

TV: How does GlobalGateway help businesses adhere to regulatory compliance?

ZC: GlobalGateway has access to over 140 trusted and licensed data sources to provide coverage for 3 billion people in more than 40 countries. Unique product features like easily integrated APIs and customizable rules sets, ensure seamless deployments and the best match rates according to applicable regulations, As a result, our product is effective in helping businesses comply with their anti-money laundering [AML] and know your customer [KYC] obligations wherever they do business.

GlobalGateway can also verify whether or not clients are on any one of 26 global watchlists, which mitigates risk by flagging individuals due to suspected money laundering or terrorist funding, global sanctions, political exposure, or other security reasons.

The global marketplace looks very different than it did a decade ago, let alone 40 years ago, when many of these regulations were created. It’s only reasonable that businesses fight fraud and cyber criminals using today’s data and technology-based solutions, such as electronic identity verification (eIDV).                                                                                                                                                                                  

TV: What’s next for Trulioo?

ZC: This will be a big year for Trulioo and AML/KYC identity verification.  We’re expecting triple digit growth as regulators enforce greater scrutiny, and our customers increasingly deploy the fast, reliable, and cost-effective ID verification solution we’ve brought to market.

But we’re also really excited about continuing to build strong partnerships with organizations that help provide access to financial services to the poor. Our team is focused on advancing financial inclusion so that everyone has an opportunity to actively participate in the global economy. Combining GlobalGateway with cyber ID data from sources such as social networks, ad networks, mobile and eCommerce sites, the unbanked and underbanked finally have a digital footprint that they can use to verify who they are, and surpass an overlooked hurdle many of us take for granted.

Trulioo has launched a $100,000 Fuse Fund to encourage independent developers to collaborate on leveraging the power of cyber identity data, such as data from mobile apps, ad networks and social login.

“We want to drive full financial inclusion by verifying the identities of the most challenging demographics,” said Stephen Ufford, CEO and founder of Trulioo.

“In today’s world, if you don’t have government-issued ID or prior credit history, it can be nearly impossible to have access to financial services,” he added.

The Fuse Fund was created to spearhead efforts to bridge the “digital divide” by fusing traditional and cyber identity data to increase coverage in emerging markets and advance financial inclusion, says Trulioo.

With the help of Fuse developers, Trulioo hopes to provide greater electronic identity verification coverage for more people in more places. The fund will award $5,000 to up to 20 app developers to build an API that provides access to user data that will be used for identity verification purposes.

Trulioo’s Fuse Fund aims to strengthen confidence in cyber identity data as an alternative source for identity verification, which will ultimately be used to verify the identities of the world’s 2.5 billion unbanked. Fuse developers will have the unique opportunity to make a difference by helping to empower the unbanked through access to services previously never available to them.

“Our mission is to ensure that the world’s population has access to all of the same services as in developed countries,” Ufford said. “Services like banking, e-commerce, peer-to-peer marketplaces, and financial services. The first step is to be able to verify someone’s existence and then authenticating that they are the person transacting online.”

Applications are currently being accepted online.