Investment firm Corsair Capital has acquired a majority stake in German identity verification platform IDnow.
The company announced the deal last week, and while no dollar amount was given, sources told the news outlet Sifted that Corsair’s investment was worth $295 million.
Founded in 2014, IDNow provides identity verification services for companies in a range of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, travel and mobility, and gaming.
With its investment, Corsair aims to help IDnow grow by developing “strong positions in multiple geographies,” and through future acquisitions, the announcement said. Corsair is a longtime investor in IDnow, having injected $40 million into the company in 2019.
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with IDnow,” said Raja Hadji-Touma and Edward Wertheim, partners at Corsair. “Since our initial investment, we’ve witnessed IDnow build significant momentum and achieve impressive scale. We are excited by the opportunity to deepen our partnership with IDnow’s talented management team, and we look forward to supporting their next chapter of innovation and growth.”
In other ID verification news, PYMNTS wrote Wednesday (March 12) about the growing sophistication of fraudsters.
These criminals, that report said, are displaying “a level of organization that mirrors legitimate businesses,” employing tactics ranging from high-tech botnet attacks to fraud attempts through the postal service using identities stolen in last year’s wave of data breaches.
As the sophistication of fraud efforts grows, so do the crimes. Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that the 40% financial institutions saw an uptick in fraud-related financial losses in 2024, up from 29% the previous year. The research also found that three-quarters of customers would switch providers if they felt their banks’ fraud protections were insufficient.
“This means that banks must step up their fraud game, and one of the most effective defenses against industrialized fraud is using a broad and dynamic data network,” PYMNTS wrote.
Speaking with PYMNTS last spring, Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis lobbied for the development of consortiums and data sharing to strengthen identity verification. By combining resources and sharing verified data, these groups could create a robust framework for identity validation, improving trust and confidence in financial transactions.
“If I am dealing with someone in a consortium, I know that they’ve received a stamp of approval,” Lewis said, emphasizing that security of information and personal details should be a primary consideration.
