SINGAPORE, Jan. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brankas, the leading global open finance technology provider, and Element Inc , the privacy-led, modern AI pioneer in digital identity services, today announced a strategic partnership to introduce an additional layer of security to detect potential frauds.

In Southeast Asia, one in every three people experienced online fraud amidst this digital transformation last year. Meanwhile, online fraud emerged as a top critical enterprise risk for Southeast Asia-based businesses. This was on top of the US$260 million that they already lost in 2019 to digital fraud.^[1]

Brankas, the comprehensive Open Finance API platform stand to revolutionize the growth of the MSMEs in the Asia-Pacific region and provide financial access to the underserved while protecting consumer data, confidentiality, and financing via its products and services. 

Element can play the critical role of the identity verification layer for Brankas' Open Finance Products such as Brankas Direct or Statement. Direct is currently available in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Businesses can replace manual bank transfers as a checkout option, enable direct e-wallet top-ups, expedite loan repayments to multiple banks via a single flow. This allows you to speed up day-to-day transactions, freeing up that time spent manually reconciling data for further innovation and customer-centric activities.

For example, when a user is making a payment using Brankas Direct, they can authenticate themselves using Element's state of the art liveness detection product. This provides an additional layer of security on top of OTP, making transactions more secure.

In addition, Brankas is also exploring ways to capitalize on Element's extensive eKYC [Electronic Know Your Customer] capabilities to complement its composable cloud native core banking system, the Brankas Open Core. This enables a seamless onboarding process for customers opening new bank accounts or Loan Management Solutions using the Brankas core banking solution.

Brankas CEO and Co-founder, Todd Schweitzer said "Element has the most comprehensive eKYC  offering in the region, localised for specific markets.  Their liveness check products and connectivity central databases for identity checks can make Brankas' Open Banking products more fraud proof."

Added Adam Perold, CEO and Co-founder, Element Inc said "Brankas has been a leader in open finance and continues to advocate for adoption across the region. Element is looking forward to supporting open finance products to make onboarding and authentication much easier and safer for our end users, and this product paves the way for more use cases in the future."

About Brankas

Brankas is the leading global open finance technology provider. We provide API-based solutions, data and payments solutions for financial service providers (like banks, lenders and e-wallets) and online businesses. Brankas partners with banks to build and manage their open finance infrastructure, producing APIs for real-time payments, identity and data, new account opening, remittances, and more. With Brankas' secure open banking technology, online businesses, fintech companies and digital banks can use Brankas APIs to create new digital experiences for their users.

About Element

As the world demands digital delivery of products and services, Element is delivering a persistent, private, and portable unique digital identity designed with intention. Element - the first modern artificial intelligence company focused on digital identity - laid the foundations for deploying deep learning on mobile devices. Our universal solution provides a mobile digital identity for anyone, anywhere.

We partner with forward-thinking financial institutions, governments, and healthcare organizations to transform how they deliver their services. Our partners choose to work with us because we deliver faster access without compromise – securely connecting anyone to any service while retaining the right to privacy. Together, we're building a frictionless future. Learn more at www.elementresearch.com.

^[1] https://fintechnews.sg/55845/security/how-southeast-asias-biggest-economies-can-boost-their-fraud-management-systems/