Apr 11, 2017

Thailand’s Digital Ventures invests in geolocation data firm Pulse iD Subscribe to our newsletter Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul April 11, 2017: &nbsp Digital Ventures , a fintech-focussed venture capital subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), has invested in Hong Kong-based geolocation data startup Pulse iD , the bank said on Tuesday. Other fintech venture capitalists including Tuas Capital from Malaysia and Robby Hilkowitz from Israel have also joined this round. However, the financial terms were not disclosed. “The partnership is our first with a Thai company and an important move for us. Deep collaboration with leading financial institutions allows us to find new ways to fight identity theft and fraud,” Alex Topaloski, Co-Founder and CEO of Pulse iD, said in the statement. The deal marks Digital Ventures’ second direct investment after it put in money in the US-based blockchain company Ripple in September last year. Integrated on millions of smartphones through a secure SDK, Pulse iD uses geolocation data to unlock security, loyalty and identity services to banks, telcos and media clients. Its priority markets include Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea. “More and more financial transactions continue to shift to online and, in particular, mobile. However, customer concerns over security and privacy risks persist,” said Digital Ventures’ chairman of the executive committee Thana Thienachariya. Through the strategic partnership, SCB and  Pulse iD will jointly explore, test, and develop geo-profiling platforms in security, fraud detection, and customer engagement. Pulse iD’s platform uses cognitive self-learning algorithms that profile customers based on their usage behaviors and ensure their protection against both offline and online fraud. “We believe that geo-location technology will greatly improve security for transactions made by our customers, regardless of channel or payment method. Our investment in Pulse iD is a significant move not only to safeguard customers’ security, but also to improve our KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and customer engagement processes, to help us design products and services that best fit their needs,” he added. Also read: