Encap wins award
Startup Encap Security is thriving in the FinTech industry with its secure and adaptable authentication solutions for digital banking
Photo courtesy of Encap Security
Encap’s team, way outside the office.
Rasmus Falck
Oslo, Norway
FinTech (Financial Technology) is an economic industry made up of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient. The industry is facing a wave of digital disruption that is starting to reshape the sector.
The rise of the smartphone has massively changed the behavior of consumers. Thanks to the increasingly digital culture, people can not only access information and data they had never been able to previously but also check their online account or set up an online investment portfolio. It is a huge opportunity for businesses, and soon no enterprise will succeed and flourish without the right FinTech services in place. In Norway FinTech is becoming a hot topic with investments tripling over the last five years.
Recently Susanne Hannestad, CEO of FinTech Mundi, presented the Nordic Financial Report of 2016 at a seminar in Oslo with 600 attending. The report explains that it is the region’s banking culture that has done the most to inspire FinTech innovation. The new industry is establishing itself as a pioneer in the creation of customer-first digital financial systems. We are seeing easier access to straightforward products distributed by new FinTech entrants. The big enabler is mobile technology—smartphone app use has radically altered consumer demand for innovation.
In the Nordics there is also local enthusiasm for technology and innovation. Trust in Nordic banks remains strong and in order for banks to maintain a loyal customer base, they need to focus on the customer.
The startup Encap Security won the Norwegian FinTech Award 2016. Their mission is to enable banks to offer the authentication method most suited to the user, their device, and the transaction taking place. The company was founded in 2006. Three years ago they expanded into North America with the opening of their first international office in Palo Alto, California. In 2009 the seed fund Alliance Venture funded further business development and product innovation. Encap secured $2 million USD in funding from Proventure Seed in 2013 to boost the global footprint.
The company’s smart authorization platform is designed to increase usage and adoption of banking services by offering frictionless and uniform access to all channels. The platform is built for consumer scale and can be used across all channels and applications. Within corporate banking it can improve usability and reduce fraud, secure any type of transaction with the same platform, and save cost by moving away from hardware-based security.
The company’s solution is simply an alternative to the one-time password-based authentication commonplace in the financial services market. Encap employs a user’s mobile device to enable in-app, banking-grade security. The company has the potential to disrupt a traditional market. The opportunity is enormous!
This article originally appeared in the April 15, 2016, issue of the Norwegian American Weekly. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
