European Fintech Company iCard Streamlines and Secures Customer Verification with Regula’s Solutions

iCard is a licensed e-money institution and a leader in the European fintech sector. With over 18 years of experience, the company delivers innovative payment services to both individuals and business clients. Operating in more than 30 countries across Europe, iCard makes financial services accessible and hassle-free for 1.4 million customers.

Challenge

As a licensed fintech institution, iCard must comply with strict European Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations and have a risk assessment system to detect and prevent possible fraud and financial crime. Both workflows had been long established, but the company felt they needed improvement.

First and foremost, iCard wanted to automate and streamline the biometric verification and identification of its customers. The company used to do such checks manually, which was time-consuming and inefficient, and could potentially lead to fraud. For example, clients could be asked to upload a new photo, even if one was already on file. This led to frustration and a long waiting period, especially during non-business hours.

Additionally, iCard required an effective solution that could easily verify identity when its risk assessment system triggered suspicious behavior, like a new device being used. In such cases, the company wanted to quickly confirm that the person initiating a transaction was a rightful user.

Apart from ensuring a smooth and secure user experience, iCard was determined to enhance its identity document verification capabilities.

Solution

After evaluating multiple providers, iCard selected Regula for its ease of integration, cost-effectiveness, and ability to meet the company’s specific needs. As a result, Regula’s complete solution for document and biometric verification was deployed to enhance the company's identity verification processes.

Regula Face SDK was integrated into the iCard Digital Wallet app (Android and iOS) to provide seamless and reliable facial recognition when a user logs in or initiates a security-sensitive action.

Regula Document Reader SDK was implemented in iCard’s back-office system to automate identity document authentication and enable better recognition of various ID types.

How it works

For biometric verification:

• When a client logs into the iCard Digital Wallet app, Regula Face SDK is automatically launched to start facial recognition.


• All a client needs to do is look at their smartphone camera—Regula’s solution conducts a liveness check and matches the face in mere seconds without any significant actions from the client.


• Once the biometric verification is done, the flow continues smoothly based on the decisions made by the system.

For document verification:

• Clients upload their ID cards, passports, or residence permits for verification.


• Regula Document Reader SDK automatically recognizes the document type and reads and validates data from the visual zone, MRZ (machine-readable zone), RFID chip, barcodes, etc.


• To prevent document fraud, Regula’s solution performs extensive data cross-checks—if any inconsistency in personal information is found, the solution raises a red flag indicating possible illegal data alterations.

Thanks to Regula’s proprietary industry-leading identity document template database, which empowers Regula Document SDK and includes 15,000+ ID templates from 251 countries and territories, iCard can verify a broad range of documents, including paper-based IDs that were previously difficult to authenticate.

Since Regula’s solutions are on-premise, all the data received by iCard during identity verification sessions is stored on the company’s internal servers, which keeps sensitive personal information secure and compliant.

Result

The project was completed in just one month, from the initial phase of development through testing to the go-live stage. Throughout the process, Regula’s team provided clear guidance and support, ensuring smooth integration with both mobile and web-based platforms.

Implementing Regula Face SDK and Regula Document Reader SDK has transformed iCard’s identity verification process, making it faster, more secure, and highly automated.

With Regula’s advanced technology, most verification processes now run automatically, significantly reducing manual reviews and operational bottlenecks. This has led to:

• Instant identity verification, with client authentication now completed in less than one minute.
• Reduced operational costs, as manual identity checks have been minimized.
• Greater fraud prevention, thanks to advanced biometric and document verification.
• More focus on high-value tasks, freeing up employees from repetitive identity verification processes.

Also, iCard has seen an improvement in customer satisfaction, as verification delays are minimized. The frictionless onboarding experience has already led to increased conversion rates.

Implementing Regula Face SDK and Regula Document Reader SDK has optimized our internal processes while ensuring a seamless experience for iCard Digital Wallet customers. The integration was completed in a short period, resulting in fast and secure identity verification, improved operational efficiency, and reduced fraud risks—all while boosting customer satisfaction.

—Gabriela Anastasova, Chief Product Officer at iCard