“There is actually one way to stop all fraud,” Matt Salisbury, Co-Founder and CEO of Honey Badger told us in a recent interview at Future Identity Finance, “and that is to service no customers whatsoever and close down your business, but that’s not a realistic way, so you do have to take on some risk.”

Honey Badger look to minimise this risk, through an API that takes personal or business information and mines hundreds of data sources, to find signs of fraud or credit risk. “It’s a slightly unusual name for a company,” Matt says, “but we pride ourselves on being like the Honey Badger, passionate about stopping fraud and helping our customers protect themselves from fraud risks and credit risks as well.”

Matt explains that the risk of fraud has never been more prevalent for financial services providers, but there’s also the risk that by putting too much friction into the onboarding processes, businesses will lose customers and therefore, revenue.

Matt explains that the risk of fraud has never been more prevalent for financial services providers, but there’s also the risk that by putting too much friction into the onboarding processes, businesses will lose customers and therefore, revenue.

Whilst large financial institutions will ultimately prioritise stopping fraud to protect their customers and their reputation, fintechs, particularly startups, are judged on revenue and growth. “Companies are answering questions from their boards around growth, not necessarily on the fraud they’ve seen that month. They’re in a difficult position because they have to balance risk appetite with the revenue they can generate.”

To hear how lenders and fintechs can leverage data to better mitigate risk without adding to customer friction, watch the full interview now.

Registration is now open for this year’s Future Identity Festival – two days, 2000+ attendees and 80+ rockstar speakers. Join us to explore the future of identity verification, risk and fraud.