CRIF acquires majority stake in Inventia - the digital identification software company

CRIF - a global company specialising in credit and business information systems, outsourcing and processing services, and credit solutions - announces the acquisition of Inventia, an Italian company founded in Milan by Andrea Cinelli in 2012. Inventia is one of the European leaders in Digital Onboarding, Video Biometric Recognition and Video Collaboration services thanks to its proprietary software technology Phygital 4X.

Using Inventia's technology, CRIF has strengthened its ‘Omnichannel Smart Onboarding’ platform for credit processes, enriching it with components that increase the user experience in the 'Phygital' interaction with the end customer.

Inventia combines Artificial Intelligence, Video Engagement, Remote Collaboration, Identity Recognition, Biometrics and Digital Signature, creating a ‘Phygital’ (physical + digital) experience which helps companies increase online conversion rates, enabling the sale of products and services that today present limitations of a regulatory nature or of elevated complexity. Specifically, Inventia's solutions help strengthen the security of transactions and access to sensitive data through the ‘ID-CERT' technology, which checks the identity of the client through a two-factor biometric system, in full compliance with KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations, improving the customer experience. Moreover, Inventia also brings its Phygital technology into the retail market thanks to the stand-alone solutions of Sim-Box for the activation and selling of mobile SIM cards, already adopted by leading international companies.

The partnership between Inventia and CRIF, further evidence of the strategic mission of the Bologna-based group in the field of Fintech innovation, has already brought about important business results in Italy and in other European countries, where a joint solution has found approval in the mobile and financial markets.

Among the benefits for the client, the main one is the opportunity to expand sales channels by introducing processes such as video recognition for the purpose of opening current accounts and taking out financial products, as well as identification through systems based on biometric recognition for the activation of mobile SIM cards. All this simply using a smartphone or PC: anytime, anywhere.

Thanks to this agreement, credit companies, utilities and insurance companies will be able to develop new channels for communicating with end customers, expanding the digitalization of their own processes, which until now has only been possible in branches or with a time lag, for instance, in the case of taking out an online loan.

With regards to the CRIF ‘Omnichannel Smart Onboarding’ platform, the objective is to offer an end-to-end solution that combines the need to ease the digital experience while ensuring compliance with client identification and authentication regulations, increasing the conversion rate and reducing the costs of creating and maintaining the client position. Specifically, the platform enables different onboarding paths to be identified according to the channel and the regulations of the individual country, and to manage and modify these over times with a single cross-country solution. At the same time, the boosted modularity that CRIF has invested in allows the identified processes to be modified at a later date (for example, due to regulatory changes), and for specific modules to be added or replaced while minimizing the operational impact and associated costs.

“This transaction is the natural evolution of a successful partnership established in 2018 which, thanks to the synergies with Inventia, has allowed us to offer a unique end-to-end and omnichannel Phygital Onboarding solution. In particular, we believe that the know-how that Inventia brings will contribute to further evolving our range of solutions to ensure an increasingly agile and fast customer experience”, explained Enrico Lodi, Managing Director of CRIF. “As part of CRIF’s growth and investment strategy, which sees CRIF positioned 35th in the world in the IDC Fintech ranking, great attention has always been paid to companies and startups that stand out in the world of financial technology, both in Italy and abroad, confirmed by its presence in all the main networks and hubs. The acquisition of Inventia represents a further step toward better serving our clients, not only in Italy but also in the global markets, thanks to the creation of new synergies with our expertise, investment strength in research and development, and presence in the most advanced and competitive markets across 4 continents”.

“I'm really happy and proud that Inventia has become part of the CRIF world. For us, this is a recognition of the success of our project and a huge opportunity to accelerate our national and international development by counting on the strength and solidity of a global player that will allow us to grow further by offering our 'Phygital Onboarding' solutions, integrated with the CRIF ecosystem, anywhere in the world”, stated Andrea Cinelli, CEO & founder of Inventia.