Mitek acquires HooYu in £98m deal

Digital identity verification and fraud prevention firm Mitek has acquired know your customer (KYC) tech firm HooYu in an all-cash £98m deal. The acquisition will result in a merger of HooYu’s KYC and onboarding capabilities and Mitek’s fraud prevention operations. Mitek aims to provide businesses, such as betting and gaming operators, with the ability to verify the identity of their customers via biometric verification and real-time bureau and database checks. By taking over HooYu, Mitek will now have access to all of its products and services, including HooYu ID, while also strengthening its presence in the European market to HooYu’s UK base as well as operations in other markets such as Germany. Keith Mardsen, HooYu CEO, said: “Having a single platform that easily orchestrates and configures a KYC journey to manage identities and identify bad actors is becoming a prerequisite for any business transacting digitally. “Bringing together Mitek’s lead in identity, liveness and biometrics, with our orchestration, configuration and journey services simplifies identity management for financial institutions,” he added. The firm believes the merger will significantly strengthen its provisions, particularly when it comes to combining biometrics, ID document validation, geolocation and identity confidence with real-time data signals like bureau checks and matches to politically exposed persons on sanction lists. The rise of cryptocurrency and NFTs, as well as greater legislation, according to Mitek, “means criminals have more routes and more incentive” to launder money, necessitating fiscal enterprises to improve their identity verification skills. Max Carnecchia, Mitek Systems CEO, commented: “Our current geopolitical, commercial and technological environment represents a perfect storm for bad actors. “Mitek is leading the fight against fraud by providing the technology that businesses need to stamp out digital money launderers and sanctioned individuals. “The combination of both companies’ technologies now gives our customers the most comprehensive identity platform on the market today,” Carnecchia concluded.