Similar to the iPhone's impact on internet access, our goal is to drive economic growth through identity solutions: Ricardo Amper of Incode Technologies

The company leads the transformation of identity verification, making online transactions and onboarding more frictionless and privacy-focused.

Ricardo Amper founded Incode Technologies as a consumer-focused photosharing company before expanding it into the enterprise identity verification segment. This transition was driven by the recognition of challenges in traditional identity verification processes, characterized by slow and biased human-in-the-loop call centers. With the global shift toward digitalization and the heightened importance of user privacy during the pandemic, Incode pivoted toward machine verification to balance security, compliance, and user experience effectively.

Incode’s biometric identity solutions prioritize this balance, automating the entire process using in-house AI/ML models. This empowers customers to seamlessly integrate the Incode solutions into their existing services, eliminating the need for third-party validation or liveness checks. The company’s role shifted from being a gatekeeper to an integral part of users' onboarding journeys, making the process intuitive and efficient.

Importantly, Incode's innovation is epitomized by the creation of the Integrated Identity Platform (IIP), which supports digital identities across the customer journey, enhancing fraud protection, privacy, and user experience. The company’s biometric AI/ML models, including Passive Liveness, set new standards for protecting customer data. 

Incode Technologies was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

The Silicon Review contacted Mr. Amper, founder and CEO of Incode Technologies, and here's his response.

Interview Highlights

Q. As a leading provider of top-tier identity solutions, what are Incode’s key focus areas?

Incode partners with major brands across industries to build next-gen digital identity solutions. By using unbiased AI for secure data processing through attestation, we eliminate repetitive onboarding. Our analytics and dashboard capabilities support the entire identity lifecycle of users. Biometrics are crucial in the move toward a Web 3 world, and Incode offers globally recognized self-sovereign identity solutions with top-tier security.

In the short term, Incode focuses on reducing fraud, boosting conversions, and cutting customer acquisition costs. Government integration verifies business data globally. Similar to the iPhone's impact on internet access, our goal is to drive economic growth through identity solutions. Incode leads the transformation of identity verification, making online transactions and onboarding more frictionless and privacy-focused.

Q. Can you introduce us to your solutions? What are their main features?

Incode offers versatile onboarding and authentication solutions for over 30 use cases, including ID verification, eKYC, Document Capture/POA, Instant BAV, eKYB, Fraud Detection, and Age Verification. Our proprietary Integrated Identity Platform (IIP), Incode Omni, is compatible with 4500+ ID templates, ensuring seamless integration and security. Unlike traditional tools, Incode Omni offers unparalleled flexibility, enabling customers to replicate, customize, or make real-time adjustments to their processes without separate cloud or database connections. With over 50 modules and a code-free interface, it garners widespread administrator support and high accuracy ratings, recognized by the Kantara Initiative (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Incode Omni transcends traditional identity verification, serving as an automated, biometric Integrated Identity Platform (IIP) extending far beyond customer onboarding.

Recognizing the redundancy of customers repeatedly submitting identity documents across companies in the same vertical, Incode pioneered an interoperable and reusable digital ID guided by self-sovereign identity principles. Incode ID optimizes the customer journey by securely storing data on their device, eliminating the need for repeated sharing while providing attestation as required. This reduces digital footprints, enhances privacy and user experience, and unlocks features like facial payments and membership discounts. Incode ID has expanded beyond large events to the airline industry, addressing issues such as ticketing bots, scalping, and parental consent.

Incode's customer-centric approach ensures tailored solutions at every stage of the customer journey, from Onboarding Capture to Fraud Checks with SSNs and electronic signatures, facilitating user consent.

Q. In what industries are your clients? Can you provide us with one or two success stories describing the challenges your clients faced and how Incode helped them overcome those challenges?

Incode serves organizations prioritizing customer trust and safety. Transitioning from transactional IDV and password reset to establishing unique digital identities during onboarding has led to broad adoption across sectors such as financial services, gaming, and entertainment. Our collaborations extend from financial institutions to the public sector, revolutionizing user credential verification and self-service in healthcare and hospitality. Web services and the gig economy use our Age Verification and Estimation. In retail, we're eliminating card-not-present scenarios with biometrics. We've ventured into telecommunications and gambling, offering robust authentication for secure transactions.

Incode's growth is fortified through strategic partnerships. Our collaboration with Black Ink Tech introduced a global, validated digital identity. Partnering with Mama Money enhances FinTech identity verification. Hoteza enables seamless hotel guest check-ins via facial recognition. Event organizers, including LIGA MX, embrace biometrics for enhanced safety and efficient fan identity verification, processing millions of fans annually.

Q. Tell us about the Incode team. What value do they bring to the company?

Incode is in the midst of an impressive and sustained growth trajectory, leveraging our extensive range of analytics and dashboard capabilities to expand our global footprint and provide comprehensive support for the entire user identity lifecycle. We operate in a multitude of industries that are progressively embracing biometric authentication technology.   

Our unwavering commitment to redefining trust and empowering individuals is ingrained in our core values and 15 core behaviors, which include leading by example, embracing challenges, and envisioning the long term. Incode is recognized for bold leadership, transparency, and industry-setting clarity.

We foster a culture of integrity and continuous learning, believing that ‘responsible people thrive on freedom and are worthy of trust’. This culture encourages calculated risks, learning from mistakes, and operating at a fast pace. We are optimistic about our talented and ambitious team, confident that they will realize our vision of ‘One Identity Everywhere’. 

Q. What new endeavors is Incode currently undertaking?

While conversion remains a top priority, customers increasingly value reusable identities, aiming to boost conversion rates and seize upselling opportunities. Our shift from transactional IDV to full user lifecycle support involves onboarding Incode ID users from stadiums and concerts, reinforcing our position as a vendor-agnostic orchestration platform. Incode is committed to integrating all identity signals, evolving initial onboarding into comprehensive user interactions, including password resets and customer support.   

Q. Is there anything you would like to add before we wrap up?

Contemporary fraud techniques have driven biometrics into the mainstream, shedding its surveillance controversy. Biometrics now plays a pivotal role in diverse industries, enhancing user experiences, privacy, and security. Incode champions trust as the cornerstone of physical identity and stands as a biometrics orchestration platform. We prioritize customer privacy and believe that biometrics should be at the core of identity management. Our regularly updated Integrated Identity Platform (IIP) ensures regional compliance for businesses worldwide.  

Ricardo Amper |   Founder & CEO

Ricardo Amper is a visionary leader with over 20 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur. He founded Incode in 2015 with a vision to transform the digital identity marketplace and the ways humans experience their identity journeys. Ricardo currently lives in San Francisco, where he is dedicated to furthering Incode’s mission of ‘One Identity Everywhere’.    

“Incode champions trust as the cornerstone of physical identity and stands as a biometrics orchestration platform.”