UK fintech Revolut is adding to its plethora of services by launching Wealth Protection, an in-app identity verification service that attempts to prevent mobile phone theft.
Wealth Protection aims to stomp out stolen phone cases which may compromise customers’ password and facial recognition from accessing sensitive payment information on the Revolut app.
Whilst many banking apps rely on biometric authentication, Revolut is improving security by using advanced facial technology on Wealth Protection.
When turned on, Wealth Protection will verify the identity of the user against the selfie ID checks that the customer completed when first signing up to Revolut, to mitigate fraudsters’ attempts to transfer money out of their savings accounts, even if their phone security has been compromised.
Revolut states it will be one of the first to implement the feature and in time for the summer where travel and festival attendances peak.
Physical theft was responsible for 38% of all unauthorised fraud losses in 2023, according to Revolut, with pickpocketing surging globally. In London, a phone is stolen every six minutes and customers are also at a heightened risk of ‘shoulder-surfing,’ where fraudsters first identify phone and banking-app passwords and then use this to bypass security measures.
Woody Malouf, Head of Financial Crime at Revolut, commented: “We take fraud and the financial loss incredibly seriously. With phone thefts on the rise, Wealth Protection has been built to counteract theft by providing our customers with that extra layer of security when you’re out and about this summer.
“Our customers will be able to rest easy knowing that even if their phone is lost or stolen, their hard earned savings are more secure.”
Wealth Protection will launch this June as part of Revolut Secure, which brings together Revolut’s security features to give customers more control over how their money is protected.
Revolut also has robust protections in place , including AI models, more than 4,000 trained anti-financial crime professionals and a team made up of fraud specialists, data scientists, and ex-law enforcement.
In 2023, Revolut prevented over £475m of potential fraud against its customers as the fintech company is working on updating protections attempting to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
At last week’s Money 20/20 Europe event, David Tirado Blanco – VP of Profitability & Global Business, alluded to Revolut launching new services this year as part of his presentation whilst also revealing how the fintech is growing in new and emerging markets.
