“Mobile Identity Verification: The OnRamp To The Digital Economy” and Mitek (MITK, NASDAQ)

 don’t care what type of business you’re in – EVERYBODY wants new and good customers.

Securing new and good customers can present several challenges in today’s online world.  For one, many companies don’t have a storefront!  Think Uber and Airbnb.  No office, no problem, says Inc. Magazine.  They’ve compiled a list of 125 companies that are proving all virtual companies can thrive (I’ll bet they even missed a few).

Hence the question: How do you know who’s on the other end of a transaction, with near 100% certainty, if you’re operating virtually?

Let’s say you were going to use Airbnb to rent your home to a complete stranger, you’d want know their real name wouldn’t you?

At the very least.

Over in the financial world companies have big regulatory responsibilities.  Financial institutions MUST know who they’re dealing with.  Failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) rules can lead to massive fines.

The tricky part, in both identifying people remotely while finding new and good customers, is this – how do companies 1) verify remotely while simultaneously providing a 2) convenient user experience?

It ain’t an easy thing to pull off, but Mitek does it better than anyone.  It’s basically akin to “cyber security” and sophisticated institutions like Morgan Stanley (MS, NYSE) and PayPal (PYPL, NASDAQ) trust Mitek with their mobile identity verification needs.

It’s an awesome technology that’s convenient and easy to use, while solving a real pain point within the digital economy, check out the Mobile Verify demo!

During Q1 Mitek signed up 25 new financial institutions.  One behemoth in particular, TD Ameritrade (AMTD, NASDAQ), is now using Mobile Verify to meet its regulatory requirements while simultaneously onboarding customers with ease.

Agilsys (AGYS, NASDAQ), a global leader in hospitality software solutions, also signed with Mitek during the quarter.  They’ll be using Mobile Verify to ensure their customers, like InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG, NYSE) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL, NYSE), have the most guest-centric technology solutions available.

Mitek reported revenues of $17.7 million, which represents 46% growth and a record Q1.

Commenting on the results, CEO Max Carnecchia said:  “Our quarterly financial results include solid double-digit revenue growth in both of our product families and reflect the continued positive momentum we are generating and the hard work of our entire team.  We continue to dominate the mobile check deposit market with our industry leading solution.  And in ID verification, we believe that our Mobile Verify is providing the onramp to the digital economy. This large market is fast-growing, mission critical, and in its early days with only one clear leader – Mitek.  We remain very focused on building on our market leadership with our patented technology, global customer relationships and proven ability to innovate and scale.”

Knowing what we know (and recognized years ago), is it any surprise one of Wall Street’s biggest whales (a real shark by the name of Paul Elliot Singer) is attempting to take Mitek private?

I don’t see it happening unless Singer raises his offer to at least $15 per share, from $11.50.

Until then I’m going to wait this one out and enjoy the ride, preferring MITK keeps trading publicly for years to come.