Homegrown software company, Innov8tif, is doing its part in the nation's digitalisation agenda with a solution to identity fraud
FOUNDED by a group of Malaysians with backgrounds in business development, software engineering and corporate finance, Innov8tif is a technology company with a goal to realise the nation's digitalisation roadmap.
This Subang Jaya-based tech company is the producer and host of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based identity verification solution, which operates on its own integrated mobile platform known as EMAS that provides eKYC (electronic know-your-customer) solutions.
HOW IT STARTED
At the beginning to mid-2010s, the evolution of customer service was driven towards opening mobile branches and bringing relationship managers closer to the customers' location.
Having an enterprise mobility platform to support mobile sales touchpoints, Innov8tif came up with the technology to authenticate MyKad using fingerprint verification, as well as to digitally recognise and extract information on identity documents.
This technology sped up the know-your-customer (KYC) process during face-to-face interactions, but then, customer preference started shifting to digital self-service channels, especially among millennials.
In a "document-not-present" environment, digital images of MyKad submitted by users or customers are becoming common. They are mainly taken using smartphone cameras, home scanners, digital cameras and sometimes, computer webcams.
Tapping into this trend, Innov8tif started to roll out an eKYC solution in 2017, which enables businesses to support real-time and remote customer onboarding from self-service applications.
According to Innov8tif chief operating officer Tiensoon Law, the eKYC solution is made possible by the maturity of deep learning-based facial recognition technology, where from the comfort of one's sofa, a proof-of-consent may be digitally confirmed by comparing a customer's identity photo with a selfie.
"Driven by an uptick in the interest in e-wallet and innovative financial services, we came across the need to support document authentication to offer eKYC solutions for 'document-not-present' scenarios, with the aim of preventing identity fraud.
"And this problem statement led to the birth of AI-based identity document authentication algorithms — collectively branded as EMAS OkayDoc," said Law.
Head of product Nathan Cheong, a former academic researcher, and his team of young talent from a data science background have successfully delivered EMAS OkayDoc, a solution that comprises a dozen computer vision algorithms developed in combination with deep learning and image processing techniques.
As a server-side (installed and run in server) component, OkayDoc helps back-office operations to reduce ID examination work by automatically performing tests on submitted ID images to check for conformance with document authenticity attributes.
This strategy helps back-office reviewers to spot and focus on borderline cases and, at the same time, minimise human error.
Recently, EMAS OkayDoc was named the winner of Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd's Huawei Spark competition, which aims to incubate and accelerate company growth, and build an ecosystem for businesses in the Asia-Pacific.
HOW IT WORKS
OkayDoc is a set of computer vision algorithms that automates ID authentication and prevents fraud in electronic document submissions through visual zone inspections, security feature detection and content tampering checks.
The system looks for very high-quality and high-resolution fine prints and patterns found on the image of a genuine MyKad. These microprints are very difficult to reproduce with commercial printers.
In MyKad spacing, there are several features that can be spotted on the front and back of the card.
For example, a smart chip should be found only at a specific middle-left position on the front. Similarly, the Malaysian flag, hibiscus, Petronas Twin Towers and MSC Malaysia logo also have their unique positions.
For each expected feature found by OkayDoc, a tick is made on the checklist.
The solution also compares the font extracted from a submitted MyKad image to determine if it is the correct type and size.
THE VISION
Embracing the climate of low-touch economy, Innov8tif believes that the digital identity verification technology will eventually touch the onboarding journey that we experience day-to-day as a consumer.
"For businesses, such technology helps to widen outreach of sales channels without restriction in terms of physical locations, branches, and operating hours.
"These factors help to reduce customer onboarding cost, which leads to the business's ability to offer creative products and services at competitive fees," said Law.
"As consumers, we are benefiting from easier accessibility to choices. Imagine, if robo-advisory investment products were to operate on branch-based operations, would this innovative investment option be accessible to consumers who are not residing in cities?" he asked.
Today, the company is serving more than 30 eKYC implementations in Southeast Asia. And last year, Innov8tif processed 3.5 million identity document requests, and is on track to support 100 per cent transaction growth this year.
As published by Salesforce, it is found that 74 per cent of people are likely to switch brands if they find the purchasing process too difficult.
So, the idea of executing customer-centricity is far more impactful to a company's bottom line than what modern marketers may perceive it to be, and that is Innov8tif's vision for the company moving forward — providing simple, easy to adopt solutions suitable for various sectors.