Banking is now in the eye of the beholder. That’s literally for EyeVerify. This new kind of ID verification tech lets you simply hold your smartphone about 8 inches from your face and take a picture of your eyeball. EyeVerify then pattern-matches the blood vessels within the sclera, the white part of your eye, to unlock your bank account. This eliminates any possibility of a hacker getting into your account and using your PIN or password to steal from you.
EyeVerify is also now flush with what they are calling a second Series A. Wells Fargo Bank and others, including Sprint and Chinese internet security company Qihoo 360 announced today that they have poured $6 million into the eyeball selfie for banking company. The participation of Qihoo 360, Sprint and other mobile partners was unveiled in the Wall Street Journal last month but now Wells Fargo has put some skin in the game and helped close the round.
EyeVerify is also a part of Wells Fargo’s newly announced startup accelerator. The accelerator is intended to be used as a semiannual boot camp for technology ideas that could shape the future of financial services. “[EyeVerify] represents precisely the technology innovation in mobile security for financial services and E-commerce that is important to us,” Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo’s wholesale services said of the company.
Voice recognition software isn’t always accurate and according to EyeVerify, face recognition hasn’t come far enough yet. Eye biometrics have historically been used in places such as the military or in fictional Hollywood movies. However, several intersecting trends seem to be accelerating market adoption for EyeVerify’s Eyeprint ID tech. While it may seem weird to take a selfie for security, between the Heartbleed bug and password hacking, widespread Internet privacy concerns and rapid improvement in front-facing smart device camera quality certainly make this unique tech quite attractive to the banking and security world.
EyeVerify co-founder Toby Rush confirms that the cash will enable the company to drive adoption of its Eyeprint ID biometric technology within the financial services, enterprise mobility management, mobile security, telecoms, healthcare and government sectors.
“We are fortunate to have a breakthrough technology that delivers a simple, secure, and private solution that eliminates password pain and password security risk, addressing a massive and escalating market need,” Rush added.
The company’s current investors, including Mid-America Angels, Think Big Partners and Nebraska Angel Network also joined the Series A. Samsung has also been an investor in the tech. This round of financing brings total funds raised by the company to approximately $10 million.