• Auka signs partnership agreement with the world’s first electronic identity assurance provider, Signicat
• Partnership to give participating banks access to regulated, PSD2 ready payments stack as well as ability to easily and electronically verify new customers

Post their successful launch at Money 20/20 in Copenhagen this week, mobile payments innovator Auka, has signed an agreement with the world leader in electronic identity assurance, Signicat.

The two Nordic FinTech pioneers will join forces to give banks who licence the Auka solution access to Signicat’s identity services. This will dramatically simplify the customer identification and acquisition process for banks entering into a new market.

Signicat works with banks all over the world including SEB, Santander and BNP Paribas. The company also works with SDC Group, one of the largest core bank providers in Scandinavia, serving more than 120 banks with its financial technology. Signicat has the largest eiD market coverage in the world, and acts as a single cloud-based integration point to multiple ID ecosystems. Physical, paper-based on-boarding is replaced with digital onboarding using existing ID credentials, and these credentials can be reused for all services.

The first fully-licensed and regulated financial company to be run 100 per cent on the Google Cloud Platform, Auka builds and operates end-to-end payments infrastructure that connect financial institutions, merchants and consumers. Banks can then license the infrastructure and applications and launch mobile payments products under their own brand, all within a few months.

Auka CEO, Daniel Döderlein, says that this partnership is the next step in further streamlining the process for banks wanting to ensure they’re ready for when PSD2 comes into effect come January 2018.

“In working with Signicat, we’re simplifying the challenge of consumer identity. Banks lose potential new customers all the time due to the complexities and time it takes to go into a physical bank with the relevant ID documentation.

“Now, banks who work with Auka can quickly verify the identity of new customers already registered with Signicat’s partners – ensuring a quicker, hassle-free sign up process.”

Research from Signicat has revealed that 40% of potential customers abandon applications for bank products during the onboarding process, mostly due to it taking too long or the amount of personal information required.

Döderlein continues: “We are thrilled to be able to include the Signicat ID service as a key part of our product offering. We can now offer banks an unparalleled solution – a fully regulated and PSD2-ready mobile payments stack combined with the power to reach wider audiences and an extremely easy sign-up process.”

Signicat Co-Founder, Arne Vidar Haug, says that the partnership just made sense and will be a particularly good fit for online banks and their customers.

“The main reason a person chooses to sign up with an online bank is so that they can avoid the hassle of having to go into a physical bank branch or dealing with paper-based processes. Signicat gives banks the opportunity to start new customer relationships on a positive note by establishing trust with a single click.

“Auka allows banks to make their customers lives easier with really simple payments solutions. This partnership is going to give participating banks a real competitive edge: a simple and secure sign-up process, followed by time-saving P2P, transaction and payments services.”