Entersekt, a provider of transaction authentication solutions for financial fraud prevention, announced strong growth in revenue and number of customers, fueled by continued US expansion and strategic alliances. Since the investment by Accel-KKR in fiscal 2022, Entersekt has seen its business outside of South Africa grow rapidly with contracted annual recurring revenue increase by 191%, and nearly 220% growth in US-based clients in fiscal 2023 alone.
What does the rapid growth mean for Entersekt?
“Our solid growth in a difficult global business climate is testament to Entersekt’s innovation and expertise addressing emerging fraud threats,” commented Schalk Nolte, Entersekt CEO.
“Our hard-earned reputation of delivering the highest level of security to financial institutions across all digital channels without compromising user experience is capturing the attention of decision makers – many of whom now recognize the urgent need to adopt more robust authentication methods to replace the traditional approaches that are proving to be vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts,” Schalk Nolte further commented.
“We are particularly pleased with our performance in the United States which is now nearing hypergrowth. The region remains a key focus for the year ahead and we have identified key partners and talent who are well known in the industry to help us to accelerate the current trajectory. The market has also shown itself eager to adopt our technology which has a proven track record with financial institutions around the world,” Nolte further explained.
Commenting on Entersekt’s growth, Julie Conroy, Head of Risk Insights at Datos Insights, said, “As fraud and financial crime continues to threaten financial institutions worldwide, the opportunity for innovative technology firms to help mitigate these risks is greater than ever. Entersekt’s steady growth and expansion is a key indicator of the appetite for FIs of all sizes to seek solutions that can reduce fraud while ensuring an optimal user experience.”
How did Entersekt perform in fiscal 2023?
Market-leading fraud prevention Innovations
The Entersekt team continued to innovate well ahead of the industry curve, with three new patents granted in FY2023, adding to the more than 60 existing technology patents.
They include Context Aware™ Authentication which is the first cross-channel fraud prevention to consider the originating channel, the transaction context, the analysis and orchestration of active and silent risk signals, the available authentication mechanisms, as well as the customer’s choice to determine the most appropriate authentication journey – all in real-time.
“Many banks continue to struggle with siloed authentication mechanisms, with different solutions for online banking, in-branch offerings, call centers, digital payments and open banking, with each using its own authentication technology,” Nolte further commented.
“We’re offering the ability to break down all those silos and have one common authentication platform across all channels. Not only does this provide a much better user and customer experience, but also helps orchestrate all that data to help banks make better decisions.”
New strategic channel and technology partnerships
The Entersekt team solidified new alliances worldwide, improving it’s go-to-market scale and creating new market opportunities. By supporting pre-integration, the alliances enabled banks to quickly and easily deploy Entersekt’s state-of-the-art authentication tech. Most recently, Entersekt’s biometric authentication tech was integrated into Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, adding biometric authentication capabilities to the Q2 online and mobile banking applications.
Expanded senior management
Entersekt made ten new director, VP or C-level hires in the US in FY23. Its executive team and company headquarters is now based both in the US and South Africa, showcasing the importance of and commitment to regional representation. Three new C-level appointments, all with decades of leadership experience, include Matt Loos as Chief Revenue Officer, Pradheep Sampath as Chief Product Officer and Frank Moreno as Chief Marketing Officer.
- Loos joins Entersekt with over 20 years of leadership experience at companies like Fifth Third Bank, Cardinal Commerce and Mastercard.
- Sampath has led new product initiatives for over 20 years, scaling SaaS, mobile and API-based products for companies like ID.me and GXS.
- Moreno’s experience includes senior marketing leadership roles spanning over 20 years with tech companies such as Bottomline and Datawatch.
What next for Entersekt?
Looking ahead, Nolte said the industry must prepare for the continued challenges of account takeover fraud schemes and authorized push payment fraud, saying the rise of real-time payments, particularly through mobile apps, has introduced a need for more effective fraud detection mechanisms. “Our vision is centered around becoming a leading force in the digital landscape, revolutionizing the way people conduct secure transactions on digital platforms.”
“With the backing of our US-based investors, key partners and a customer-centric approach, we are poised for exceptional success in the year ahead and beyond,” Nolte concluded.
