Myriad Connect solutions, a mobile technology solutions company, has begun operations in Kenya to help end digital transaction fraud. They aim to proffer fail-safe systems such as SIM swap services and out of band authentication which will help to protect consumers and financial institutions by ensuring the security of digital and mobile transactions.
According to Fabien Delanaud, General Manager of Myriad Connect, the Kenyan market is a leader in Africa in terms of financial technologies, therefore, the market is the best launching pad for the company’s ground-breaking solutions into the region.
Recent research conducted by the company showed that the majority of Kenyans use banking apps and mobile money accounts. It is worth mentioning that the growth of FinTech innovations in Kenya has also led to a growth in the levels of digital transaction fraud.
“As these transformative technologies take off globally, they are also exposing vulnerabilities that criminals are exploiting” says Fabien Delanaud, General Manager of Myriad Connect.
“In the Kenyan market, which is aligned with global fintech trends, fraudsters are targeting digital and mobile financial service transactions, as well as the actual mobile SIMs.”
Over 90% of Kenyan banking leaders have identified SIM swap fraud as a problem for their organisations making it one of the major forms of financial service fraud in Kenya.
Criminals can gather personal data and pose as the owners of a SIM to get a new SIM. Once the new SIM is activated by the criminals, they can gain access to bank account details and other sensitive data which were authenticated through the SIM. To forestall this, customers inform their operators of the damage or loss of their SIM. The lost or damaged SIM is then deactivated and a new one issued.
The research carried out by Myriad connect found that 70% of Kenyans have been or know someone who has been a victim of financial service fraud.
According to Delanaud, combating digital transaction fraud demands an omnichannel fraud prevention strategy, it provides ubiquitous authentication to any mobile device regardless of data connectivity.
Myriad Connect offers a separate, third party authentication channel. They use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) to provide a completely out of band channel for authentication. Every interaction in the process is made over the mobile network which is separated from the browser or the online channel utilised by the customer to start the transaction. Myriad Connect’s system is session-based and sends an advanced push notification to initiate an interaction between the company and its customer.
The SIM Swap detection service from Myriad Connect is more secure than the current two-factor authentication services because it conducts a real-time check on the SIM and no persistent data is held by a third party. It also establishes a clear audit trail to verify a user’s identity through a third party external to the interaction. Their robust systems offer a technology that improves the security of all transactions susceptible to SIM Swap fraud.
“In the UK, fraud prevention technologies have helped stop 67% of fraud attempts, and with our out of band authentication and SIM swap detection service, we hope to replicate this level of success in Kenya” Delanaud states.
