Credit Unions Eye Voice Authentication Tech to Protect Against Fraud
Two credit unions announce their investment in Illuma Shield, a “real-time audio authentication platform."
Identity theft can be a significant and costly issue for financial institutions. To help mitigate the potential data privacy risk, credit union often look to implement data privacy technology to provide added protection for members and the organization.
To that end, two credit unions have decided to invest in just such a technology to help prevent fraudulent activity in their call centers. The Veridian Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Waterloo, Iowa-based Veridian Credit Union ($4.5 billion, Waterloo, Iowa) and Texas Dow Employees Credit Union ($3.76 billion, Lake Jackson, Texas), announced a joint investment in Illuma Labs, a Plano, Texas-based provider of voice authentication. The software is designed to keep the members’ money secure, but also enable easy access to funds, according to Stephanie Sherrodd, TDECU’s president/CEO.
In addition to the security it will provide, it also keeps costs down that are directly connected to identity theft, according to Nick Evens, president of The Veridian Group.
“Identity theft is an ongoing threat that can have a costly impact on credit unions and their members,” Evens said in a press release. “We’re excited about the solutions Illuma Labs is bringing to market and grateful for the chance to be part of their growth.”
Illuma Labs’ voice authentication product, Illuma Shield, was described as a “real-time audio authentication platform to secure voice communications, and uses signal processing, machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide faster, more accurate authentication than the use of PINs, passwords and personal questions” and will run “passively in the background of each call,” according to Illuma Labs.
The investment by the credit unions is a result of Illuma Labs’ participation in VentureTech, an annual event for capital-seeking fintech companies across the U.S. to showcase their company for investment capital from the credit union industry, according to the press release. The event recognizes “rising fintechs whose products and services can give credit unions a competitive edge in the financial services marketplace.” The next VentureTech event is scheduled to take place November 9-10.