Next-generation KYC banking verification via embedded smart keyboard

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Financial fraud continues to be a major problem for people in the UK and beyond. In the UK, £1.2bn was lost to financial fraud in 2022 (UK\_Finance), with ~£30m of that specifically lost due to mobile banking fraud (This\_Is\_Money,2022). Mobile banking fraud usually occurs through stolen phones, with criminals using sophisticated methods to override or crack passwords to access bank accounts via downloaded apps. With 93% of Britons using online banking (Finder,2023), it is no wonder this figure is a significant proportion of overall fraud losses.Banks work hard to prevent fraud, spending an average of 10% of total budgets on cybersecurity (NoWires,2021). A key part of these efforts comes in the form of Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, so the bank is certain the customer is the one trying to access their account. With the proliferation of smartphones, focus is increasingly turning to in-built technology (e.g. facial recognition via Face ID) to add new layers of security.One KYC avenue with high potential yet no existing security use is tracking of keystrokes/typing patterns on in-app keyboards. This would work by building an individual keystroke pattern for each user, with an automatic flag and request for additional verification/account freeze if someone attempted to log in using an anomalous typing pattern.At THINGTHING, we are ideally positioned to develop this new KYC avenue. We currently offer a popular pre-built virtual keyboard, the Fleksy software development kit (SDK), that ranks fifth in Europe and the USA in popularity and downloads behind major technology incumbents such as Apple, Google and Microsoft. We have many banking customers already utilising our technology, and all have expressed significant interest in the potential to utilise the Fleksy keyboard as a novel KYC tool.This is an entirely disruptive cybersecurity opportunity with no close competitor on the market. Online banking KYC verification is currently dependent on passwords, Face ID and/or fingerprint ID, with no provider offering keystroke tracking. No keyboard competitor is utilising keystroke tracking to offer an additional layer of security to banks. Market dominants (e.g. Microsoft, Apple and Google) offer only the keyboard, with no access to underlying/captured data for any purpose.This is a unique opportunity to rapidly deliver a novel, highly effective KYC security tool to banks that are calling for an urgent solution, helping to combat relentlessly high levels of financial fraud in the UK and beyond.