Editorial

GBG makes big US play by uniting companies

GBG says it is creating the largest pure play identity verification and fraud prevention provider in the Americas

Posted 8 April 2022 by Christine Horton


UK firm GBG says it has created the largest pure play identity verification and fraud prevention provider in the Americas.

The move comes after the digital identity firm said it was uniting its two US acquisitions, Acuant and IDology, under the leadership of Christina Luttrell, formerly CEO of IDology.

At the same time, GBG has announced the formation of a Global Products group led by former Acuant President and CEO Yossi Zekri.

GBG acquired Acuant in November 2021, and IDology in 2019. In a statement the firm said: “Building on the opportunity to introduce existing GBG customers to Acuant capability, we have also seen new customers and projects delivered by the combined businesses.

“Examples include a top five multinational telecommunications conglomerate that has implemented Acuant’s identity proofing and fraud fighting solutions across all 500 retail locations with 1500 franchised stores to follow suit, delivered via one of the largest global partners in Acuant’s extensive partner network. Acuant and IDology are also making further strides in the fast-evolving cryptocurrency market, working directly with one of the world’s largest global crypto exchanges to extend current Transaction Monitoring, KYC and PEPs and Sanctions re-screening services with data and technology from IDology to further fight fraud and achieve regulatory compliance.”

Chris Clark, CEO at GBG, saidthe company’sstrategy has is based in the principle of ‘think globally, act locally.’

“As we have acquired and built capability over the years, we have always been clear on balancing the global reach of technology and globally relevant products like documents, with strong regional execution that adapts our propositions to the needs of local markets, local regulations and local use cases. I couldn’t be more excited about the next steps in our journey,” he said.

Biggest identity and fraud specialist

GBG claims that by uniting Acuant and IDology, it becomes “the biggest identity and fraud specialist in the world’s largest and most strategically important market. It also creates an identity network with over 450 million digital identities to fight synthetic fraud, one of the most difficult-to-spot and fastest growing forms of identity fraud, and provides the most comprehensive identity solution, covering KYC, KYB, risk management and fraud detection.”

“North America is the world’s largest and most developed market globally for identity and fraud solutions and represents a tremendous opportunity for us to join forces in delivering deep expertise and innovation,” said Christina Luttrell, CEO, Americas at GBG.

“I am honoured to lead this team forward, united in a mission and stronger together to deliver the very best to our growing client base.”   

 The new Global Products group brings together the document strengths of Acuant and GBG which include a comprehensive identity document library, with proprietary technology and anti-tampering capability.

In addition to documents, it brings together data, document, biometrics, device, PEPs and Sanctions, and crypto monitoring in the core regions of the Americas, EMEA and APAC.