US FinTech Synapse Eyes Expansion Into India, LatAm

U.S. FinTech Synapse, which provides U.S. checking accounts to abroad clients, is close to 1 million Brazilian accounts and will be looking to expand to other countries in Latin America and India.

Synapse lets clients open accounts through Synapse partners in home countries. The company has also recently partnered with Nomad, a Brazilian FinTech. It also provides U.S. accounts to clients of Banco Inter SA, Reuters wrote.

The accounts have been typically used by Brazilians to pay for expenses during trips or to invest in U.S. financial markets.

CEO Sankaet Pathak has said one of the main reasons clients open U.S. accounts has been transferring assets from volatile local currencies to dollar investments.

Pathak also recently told PYMNTS about the challenges of onboarding, saying the most difficult parts involve determining the likelihood of identity theft.

Read more: How Synapse Ensures A Smooth And Secure Authentication Experience Via Behavioral Analytics

User authentication has become more important with a rise in identity theft in the business world. The task of companies to prove customers are who they say they are has been a “substantial challenge,” and customers can jump ship if things get too complicated.

“When it comes to onboarding, the most important thing is [determining] the likelihood of identity theft … while also having a very streamlined and simple onboarding process,” Pathak said. “You want to be able to ask the customer for the least amount of information you can while still being able to do the assessment you need.”

The goals might not seem congruous with one another, but Pathak said the company makes use of behavioral analytics to make sure there’s a secure, seamless authentication experience.

The onboarding is the step with the most potential for an identity fraudster to infiltrate the company’s system, with that step also being the foundation for the whole relationship.

“The first step is verifying somebody’s identity and making sure you have as high a sense of certainty [about it] as you can,” said Pathak. “You need to run them through all the sanction screenings, tests and blacklists, and then onboard them [smoothly] and enable payment processing.”