Press releases
Mar 09, 2023
Lloyds Banking Group invests £10million in digital identity company Yoti
Investment will be used to develop innovative technology that protects customers’ identities and personal data online Lloyds Banking Group will support Yoti in developing a new, reusable digital identity proposition that will help combat the growing risks of identity fraud Lloyds Banking Group has invested £10 million in digital identity company Yoti, an investment which supports the development of innovative technology to keep people safe online, tackle the ever-growing risks of identity fraud, and give people more control over their personal data. Yoti offer a range of digital identity solutions that make it simple for people and businesses to protect themselves online. This includes a free Digital ID app, which gives individuals a safe and instant way to prove their identity from their phone, with no need to show ID documents or share an excessive amount of personal data. Digital IDs are a UK government-approved form of identification for right to work, right to rent and criminal records checks. Yoti’s Digital ID is also accepted as proof of age at UK cinemas,and for the sale of lottery tickets, energy drinks and tobacco. Businesses across a range of industries – from financial services and retail to gaming and e-commerce – are already seeing the benefits of Digital ID services. The investment from Lloyds Banking Group will support Yoti’s development of a new reusable digital identity proposition that will complement Yoti’s existing solutions. Set to launch later this year, this will give users a more private, secure and convenient way to prove their identity. Kirsty Rutter, FinTech Investment Director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting Yoti and their experienced, passionate team with their work to further protect people online, through developing and growing digital identity solutions. “We know how important fintechs and technology partners are for delivering better outcomes for our customers and this investment represents another step forward in our plans to strengthen the UK’s financial ecosystem and is a crucial part of how we help Britain prosper.” Robin Tombs, CEO at Yoti said, “I’m delighted to announce Lloyds Banking Group’s significant investment in Yoti. The combination of their expertise in financial services and our digital identity solutions will bring security to even more businesses, people and communities. We will make it easier and safer for individuals to prove who they are and enable businesses to have more trust and confidence in the identity of their customers.” The investment in Yoti is Lloyds Banking Group’s second investment of 2023, following a successful round of investments in 2022. These investments are headed up by the Group’s recently formed Fintech Investment team, which focuses on identifying and exploring opportunities for investment into fintech at Seed to Series B. Notes to editors With a reusable digital identity, individuals only need to verify their identity once and then share verified details in seconds, without needing to show their ID documents each time. Individuals can just share the details they need and nothing else – giving them greater control over their personal data. With individuals pre-verified, organisations can have greater confidence and trust in who they are dealing with. About Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with around 26 million customers and a presence in nearly every community. Our main business activities include retail and commercial banking, general insurance, and long-term savings, provided through well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows. Our purpose is helping Britain prosper. We have served Britain through our products and services for more than 320 years, across every community and millions of households. Our success is interwoven with the UK’s prosperity, and we aim to help Britain prosper by operating as a responsible, sustainable, and inclusive Group. About Yoti Yoti is a digital identity technology company that makes it safer for people to prove who they are, verifying identities and trusted credentials online and in-person. They now provide verification solutions across the globe, spanning identity verification, age verification, document eSigning, access management, and authentication and leading facial age estimation. Over 13 million people have downloaded the free Yoti Digital ID app across the world. It is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Polish. Yoti is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for ID Verification Services, ISAE 3000 (SOC 2) Type 2 certified for its technical and organisational security processes. For more information, please visit www.yoti.com.
Press releases
Mar 09, 2023
Lloyds Banking Group invests £10million in digital identity company Yoti
MyFace has been awarded iBeta NIST Level 2 with 100% attack detection rate Yoti’s passive liveness technology can be used to strengthen age checks, prevent account takeover and protect against identity fraud MyFace white paper outlines performance and bias 2nd March 2023, London, UK – Digital identity company Yoti has announced its proprietary passive liveness technology, MyFace, is now compliant with iBeta ISO PAD Level 2. The technology achieved a 100% attack detection rate. MyFace verifies that a user is a real person, and not a presentation attack such as a printed or digital photo, video or mask – all from a single image. MyFace can strengthen age and identity checks, prevent account takeovers and protect individuals and businesses against the growing risks of identity fraud. Since achieving iBeta Level 1 in February 2022, Yoti has continued to develop its liveness technology. Level 2 involves training and testing against more expensive, specialist attacks such as 3D printers, resin and latex face masks. To achieve Level 2, the liveness technology must detect 99% of attacks. Yoti achieved a 100% detection rate. Level 2 is the maximum level that iBeta and other NIST-accredited labs currently certify against. MyFace is a passive solution and only requires a selfie image to complete the liveness check, creating a smooth, inclusive and accessible user experience. The technology does not recognise any faces and does not save any images. It simply checks that the face in the image belongs to a real, live person. Paco Garcia, CTO at Yoti said, “We’re very proud that our proprietary liveness technology MyFace has achieved iBeta ISO PAD Level 2. It’s a huge achievement for the team and this milestone demonstrates our commitment to delivering very high standards of security solutions.” Robin Tombs, CEO at Yoti said, “It’s hugely exciting that Yoti’s MyFace passive liveness is now compliant with iBeta ISO PAD Level 2. Businesses around the world can use our passive liveness and world leading facial age estimation to keep their customers safe online. Naturally being Yoti, we have tested MyFace™ for bias and the model displays very low bias across age, gender and skin tone. To boost transparency and trust in this technology, we have also released a new liveness white paper.” MyFace works alongside Yoti’s existing suite of identity solutions: Strengthen age checks: Yoti’s facial age estimation technology checks the age of a user, and at the same time, MyFace verifies it is a real, live person. This is all completed from a single selfie, creating one seamless experience. The combination of these technologies could be used to create age-appropriate experiences online, protect children from accessing explicit content, and be used in a retail setting for the sale of age-restricted goods. Prevent account takeovers: MyFace can prevent account takeovers and ensure only genuine customers are accessing their accounts or updating important information, such as their bank details. Protect against identity fraud: MyFace can be used as part of an identity verification process to give a high confidence level that the person completing the check is real. Bot detection: MyFace can prevent bots from gaining access to information, or detect deepfake faces creating fake accounts. MyFace white paper is available here. Notes to editors iBeta Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, iBeta has been providing critical software testing services for the world’s most trusted brands since 1999. Our full range of on-demand QA software testing services encompasses many different software testing types including functionality testing, mobile testing, website testing, acceptance testing, accessibility testing, and overall quality assurance. NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST certification means the product in question meets defined standards. The difference between passive and active liveness: Active liveness requires the user to take a video of themselves performing certain actions, for example, moving toward and away from the camera, or repeating random words. This then uses AI and / or manual review to complete the check. Passive liveness can be achieved from a single selfie. Passive liveness reduces friction for users and at the same time providing as good as or even better security guarantees, thereby reducing drop off and speeding up the journey of verifying genuine users. About Yoti Yoti is a digital identity technology company that makes it safer for people to prove who they are, verifying identities and trusted credentials online and in-person. They now provide verification solutions across the globe, spanning identity verification, age verification, document eSigning, access management, and authentication and leading facial age estimation. Over 13 million people have downloaded the free Yoti Digital ID app across the world. It is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Polish. Yoti is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for ID Verification Services, ISAE 3000 (SOC 2) Type 2 certified for its technical and organisational security processes. For more information, please visit www.yoti.com
Articles
Feb 24, 2023
Global retail report: Exploring how facial age estimation improves the self-checkout
Nearly four years ago we integrated our facial age estimation technology into retail self-checkouts. Since then, it has been trialled by retailers in the US and Estonia, with further pilots taking place in Germany, Poland and Czech Republic. And last year UK supermarkets – including Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Co-op – tested the technology as part of a Home Office regulatory sandbox. The aim of the sandbox was to trial digital age verification for the sale of alcohol under the UK Licensing Act (2003). Detailed reports from the Home Office and the supermarkets who participated in the sandbox are due to be published. But in the interests of transparency, we have shared our own insights from both the Home Office trials and our wider learnings of how our technology works in a retail setting. We hope this helps to answer common questions and dispel misconceptions, and build trust and understanding in this new approach to age verification, which can make the lives of retail staff easier and improve compliance rates. Key takeaways from the report: Customers like the experience Our technology gives customers a more private way to prove their age Digital age verification has the potential to improve retail staff safety and reduce friction between staff and customers Retail staff have more time to focus on other tasks, including spotting proxy sales and ‘walkaways’ Our technology is inclusive for those who do not own or have access to an ID document Lighting conditions and environmental factors impact success rates Anti-spoofing is key to the success of digital age verification A note from our CEO “Our age verification technology can help make retail stores safer and give customers privacy-preserving ways to prove their age, without needing to show physical ID to staff. During the Home Office trials, I was particularly happy to see that some of the self-checkouts could successfully estimate over 90% of shoppers at the first attempt. This will be a game changer for retailers both here in the UK and abroad, who can use our technology to improve compliance rates and enhance the checkout experience for shoppers” – Robin Tombs, CEO of Yoti. Download the retail report
Articles
Dec 21, 2022
A look back on 2022
In a year where life feels like it’s in full flow again, so does Yoti! We continue to be the most downloaded Digital ID in the world, but that’s just half the story of our 2022. We’ve been busy teaming up with some of the world’s biggest social media platforms, got ourselves accepted in cinemas across the UK, and became the first certified digital identity service provider under the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework for Right to Work, Right to Rent and criminal records checks. That and much more! Here’s a look back on what’s been going on with us this year… Created age-appropriate experiences online Together with some of the biggest social media platforms, we’ve made lots of positive changes to keep children safe online. Meta are using our facial age estimation technology to deliver age-appropriate experiences on Instagram and Facebook Dating. And with 81% of users on Instagram choosing facial age estimation over uploading an ID document, it’s proving to be the most popular way to verify age online. Social network app Yubo started asking first-time users signing up for an account, or existing users who haven’t yet been verified, to confirm their age with our facial age estimation technology. By being able to know who is a child, young users can safely explore the platform and make friends with people in the same age group. OnlyFans also introduced our technology to protect children and ensure underage users cannot access the platform, which further bolsters the existing identity verification measures OnlyFans already has in place in the UK. Completed millions of age checks Our facial age estimation is being used globally by a wide range of social, gaming, ecommerce, adult, gaming and retail organisations. To date, we have completed over 570 million age checks using our privacy-preserving technology, and have the ability to scale to tens of millions of age checks every day. Campaigned for a safer internet Our Chief Policy & Regulatory Officer, Julie Dawson, attended the annual FOSI 2022, hosted by the non-profit Family Online Safety institution (FOSI). She led a lively panel discussion with Google and Kantar experts on recent FOSI research that looks at parents’ and childrens’ awareness, attitudes, and behaviours towards age assurance, exploring who’s responsible for monitoring what children see online and how much their privacy is protected. Julie was also invited to speak at Meta’s Summit on Youth Safety and Well-Being where she spoke with Meta Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan on the importance of getting age verification right. For us, speaking at events is about more than just taking part. It’s a chance to show that purposefully designed technology can provide safer, age-appropriate experiences online. Approved by regulators and named by the French President’s wife Our facial age estimation technology can play an important role in protecting young people and improving online safety, so we were thrilled when it was approved by the German regulator, KJM, for the highest level of age assurance. This means it can be used for 18+ adult content. President Macron launched his international innovation lab on the protection of children in a high-level meeting with a selection of platforms and NGOs at Elysée Palace. In the meeting, Brigitte Macron asked Meta directly, very intrigued whether their implementation of Yoti’s facial age estimation technology to assess the age of minors worked. Meta confirmed our technology was helping to create age-appropriate experiences for young people. Merci! Completed a summer of supermarket trials Things heated up this summer when we had a number of supermarkets trialling our technology. Shoppers purchasing alcohol could simply look at a camera on the self-checkout, or use the Yoti or EasyID Digital ID app, to verify their age instead of waiting for assistance. Created safer gaming experiences We teamed up with Regal Gaming technologies to solve the challenge of age verification in the offline world too. As the UK’s leading provider of gaming machines to the leisure and hospitality industry, they’re committed to helping staff create safer gambling experiences. With our technology in their gaming machines, customers now have two ways to prove their age digitally – with a real-time selfie or using our reusable Digital ID apps. Became the first certified provider for digital Right to Work checks Yoti and Post Office became the first to be a certified digital identity service provider (IDSP) under the UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework, for Right to Work, Right to Rent and criminal records checks. This announcement marked the first time that a digital identity app has been approved by the UK government. Since being certified, we have been selected by over 600 companies for digital Right to Work checks from industries spanning retail, technology, financial services, charities and universities. We have also partnered with the majority of the world’s major employment screening companies including uCheck, First Advantage, Verifile, Hire Right, People Check, Talent Clouds and Sterling Check who have all embraced the digital checks and now offer employers and candidates a faster and more secure method of verifying identity documents. Over 13 million Digital ID app downloads This year, we reached over 13 million app downloads and continue to be the most downloaded Digital ID in the world. Digital IDs became accepted at UK Cinemas UK cinemas started to accept the Yoti and EasyID apps as proof of age. Young people aged 13+ now have a safer, more convenient way to prove their age when watching age-restricted films – meaning that important ID documents, such as passports, can now be left at home. They no longer need to worry about keeping their passport safe and can instead focus on whether the popcorn should be sweet or salty. In other news… We were awarded 5th place out of 3,000 in the Top 100 Startups, Businesses, and Entrepreneurs in 2022 by TechRound, the UK’s fastest growing startup and tech news site. We celebrated amazing partnerships including THG Ingenuity, Fluttr, Further, Department of Trust, Preloved and many others. As part of our ongoing work to protect young people, we helped check the age of attendees at the summer garden party of Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust. The event was for under 18s, so attendees were asked to show ID or prove their age with our facial age estimation technology. This helped safeguard the event, ensuring only those of the right age attended. There’s so much we’re proud of this year. We can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store.
Case studies
Dec 11, 2022
How Yubo became the first major social media platform to age-verify 100% of its users
“Yubo’s rapid, full-scale deployment of sophisticated age-verification technology with Yoti is just the latest evidence of its unwavering commitment to online safety innovation.” Annie Mullins OBE Yubo Independent Safety Advisor Yubo is a live social discovery app making it easy for Gen Z to expand their social circles and hang out online with new friends from around the world. We helped them: Age-verify all users during the onboarding process. Limit interaction between teens and adults. Detect bots and fake profiles. Solution: Facial Age Estimation Industry: Social media Read the case study
Press releases
Nov 24, 2022
THG Ingenuity partners with Yoti for digital age verification solutions
London, UK – 18th November 2022 – Yoti, the digital identity company, has today announced its partnership with THG Ingenuity, THG’s proprietary technology platform specialising in taking brands direct-to-consumers (“DTC”) globally. Yoti will provide age verification solutions on the THG Ingenuity platform. This will allow THG clients to strengthen age checks and protect underage customers from buying age-restricted products. Yoti’s age verification solutions include facial age estimation technology, a digital identity app and ID document verification. THG Ingenuity clients can choose which solution complements their business, and ensure they meet regulatory and local market requirements for selling age-restricted goods and services. Yoti’s solutions integrate into different touchpoints on a company’s eCommerce customer journey, for instance during the checkout process or during account creation. THG Ingenuity provides eCommerce solutions to many of the world’s leading brands, with a unique end-to-end approach, encompassing eCommerce management services, global hosting, marketing technology, digital fraud detection, fulfilment & warehousing, creative content & brand services, translation services and delivery & courier management. Through this partnership, THG Ingenuity will be able to broaden the range of solutions available to new and existing clients. THG Ingenuity’s platform powers the online direct-to-consumer growth of both THG’s own brands – such as Myprotein and LOOKFANTASTIC – and third-party clients such as Nestlé, Elemis and Homebase. Vivek Ganotra, THG Ingenuity CEO, said: “We are proud to be partnering with age verification specialists, Yoti, to provide digital verification solutions to our clients. It further extends THG Ingenuity’s capabilities as a unique, end-to-end eCommerce platform, which has proven to be a huge competitive advantage, helping our brand partners scale, expand and grow their DTC offerings.” Robin Tombs, Yoti CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the THG Ingenuity platform, allowing their clients to access our robust and effective age verification solutions. There’s no one size fits all approach when it comes to age verification. So, we have a suite of solutions which are all flexible, fast, scalable and secure. Companies can strengthen age checks and be compliant without compromising the customer experience.” Notes to editors About Yoti Yoti is a digital identity technology company that makes it safer for people to prove who they are, verifying identities and trusted credentials online and in-person. They now provide verification solutions across the globe, spanning identity verification, age verification, document eSigning, access management, and authentication. In the UK, Yoti has partnered with Post Office to accelerate digital identity adoption, with a national footprint spanning 11,500 Post Office branches, online and more. Over 12 million people have downloaded the free Yoti app across the world. It is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Polish. Yoti is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for ID Verification Services, ISAE 3000 (SOC 2) Type 2 certified for its technical and organisational security processes. For more information, please visit www.yoti.com. About THG Ingenuity Ingenuity Commerce provides an end-to-end direct to consumer e-commerce solution for consumer brand owners under ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) licences. The wider Ingenuity division provides stand-alone digital services, including hosting, studio content, translation services and beauty product development and manufacturing.