October 13, 2023
It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month. First established in 1968, this month is celebrated across Latin America and recognizes the many dates of importance and independence days throughout this region.
To honor this month, we introduce you to our LATAM iProovers: Daniel Molina, Omar Sanjuanero, Gustavo Ferreira da Silva, Renato Andrade, Ronald Chapman, u0026amp; Eduardo Montellano. They share what makes them proud to be Latin American, as well as unique insights into the future of digital identity, the importance of inclusivity and diversity, and more.
Question 1: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Daniel
I was born in Mexico and moved to the States when I was 11. It was working as a pre-sales engineer in cybersecurity that I first realized the key pillar to any security issue is the identity of the person, and from there, it’s only one step away from realizing how many people are disenfranchised today because they don’t have a legal identity.
The opportunity at iProov arose and came with it the huge challenge of expanding the company in the LATAM region where many people are disenfranchised, and the infrastructure for providing digital identities is not yet available. But I was determined to see this area develop, so I took the role and started to build out my team.
Omar
My role is a Business Development Consultant for LATAM where I get to talk to interesting companies and potential partners and spread the word about iProov. I was born in Mexico City and I’m still living here today – I love it, so I’m not looking to move out anytime soon! All my previous roles have been within the technology sector, I enjoy being part of this community of software and innovation which is what first attracted me to iProov, and why I’m still here 10 months later!
Gustavo
I’ve been at iProov for 9 months as a LATAM presales consultant, and part of my responsibility is to help our partners and clients understand, test, and implement our technology. I was born in Curitiba, Brazil, and spent ten years here before traveling from state to state and finally landing in Santa Catarina State. After studying mechatronics, I joined a company that delivered fingerprint biometric devices for governments, before eventually meeting iProov and Daniel Molina.
Renato
I’m from Brazil and based in Sao Paulo. My role as a Channel Sales Manager consists predominantly of building a partner ecosystem in the Brazilian territory while generating demand and developing relationships with end users.
Ronald
I was born in Venezuela, lived in Mexico for three years, and now I’m based in Bogota, Columbia. I joined iProov as a Channel Sales Manager and have been here for around 7 months. For 20 years prior, I worked in the telecommunications industry before eventually moving into identity. The identity industry was where I learned the importance of having access to a legal identity and part of the reason I joined iProov.
Eduardo
I’m a Channel Manager at iProov, born and based in Mexico City, and have lived here almost all my life, but when I first heard of the iProov opportunity I was living in Canada. Daniel Molina and I discussed my soon-to-be role and what excited me the most was the goals iProov had to expand our reach across Latin America. I fell in love with the mission and decided to move back to Mexico with my family to begin this new and exciting adventure.
Question 2: What are the key trends you’ve noticed within digital identity across the LATAM region?
Daniel
I have three trends! The first is that over the past 18 months, we have seen maturity in the legal framework and cultural acceptance of digital identity and biometric technology.
Secondly, We have seen that Brazil has the most advanced criminal organizations for digital fraud.
Finally, maturity levels vary across Latin America. Brazil is far ahead in terms of adopting biometric and digital identity technologies. Our team can utilize our experience and expertise from working with Brazilian organizations in less mature countries such as Colombia, Chile, or Peru.
Omar
We have started to see uneven development of digital identities in this region. The levels of maturity, the different use cases we’ve experienced, and people’s understanding of biometrics differ greatly – which I think is one of the most interesting things about working in LATAM – each country poses different challenges.
Gustavo
Knowledge will vary. In one country I might be discussing the rise in digital injection attacks, deepfakes threats, or how to implement resilient liveness solutions, whereas in another country you feel you’re 10 years in the past and your role will consist of educating organizations on what biometrics are how they can be used to make life better for their customers.
Ronald
We are seeing the digital transformation of financial services. Banks are turning to digital transactions as opposed to cash transactions, which brings with it new challenges of inclusivity and security. Currently, it is estimated only 45% of Latin Americans have a bank account, so enabling people to be involved in formal finance, and the economy, will be a focus for policymakers, governments, and financial institutions alike.
Eduardo
There is a great difference in culture regarding the adoption and practices of digital identity programs compared with the United States for example. However, it is evident now that laws and legislation, pushing for the adoption of digital identities, are moving very quickly within the LATAM region.
Question 3: Why is creating inclusive and accessible digital identities crucial in Latin America?
Daniel
Inclusive and accessible digital identities mean you can be a part of the economy. Whether it’s taking part in voting, taking out loans, or accessing crucial digital services from governments, banks, or other organizations – an inclusive and accessible digital identity program will ensure you are not excluded from those processes.
Omar
The next step in security is resilient biometrics, but to successfully provide this security to all your customers you need to do so regardless of the quality of their device, or the individual’s ability. You have to protect everybody. Building inclusivity into biometric security solutions will play a crucial role in the public’s acceptance of the technology.
Eduardo
Large segments of the Latin American population are low-income and find themselves unable to access basic services, such as benefit programs. A way to fuel financial and digital inclusion is through digital identity programs. This ensures no matter how remote the user is, or whether they can afford the latest smartphone, they can access digital services.
Question 4: What does the future of digital identity look like to you?
Daniel
We are starting to see a trending topic in the region: user-centric distributed identity, if you are required to show proof of age a user-centric identity enables you to share an approved ID showing you are over 18 years old, as opposed to sharing an ID card with your address, name, and date of birth. You can protect and have control over, your data and identity.
Gustavo
We will continue to see more digital identity use cases applied across sectors, from financial to transportation. The LATAM region is in a great position where we can see the ways countries across the world are utilizing digital identity programs, including iProov’s very own use case: the EU digital identity wallet. This allows LATAM countries to see the potential ways digital identity programs can be used for their own needs. We will certainly see the adoption of digital identity programs here – but it will take time.
Renato
All services; government, banking, health, etc. will migrate to the digital world. Digital inclusion is undoubtedly a challenge in some regions due to a lack of infrastructure, but over time this will improve, and iProov is helping solve this issue.
Eduardo
Digital Identity is a primary issue throughout the whole of Latin America. However it is something that is moving in the right direction, and about to accelerate with opportunities to be applied across all industries and a huge variety of use cases. It’s an exciting time for us!
Question 5: As financial institutions undergo digitization what challenges will they face?
Daniel
There is a huge shift from stolen to synthetic identity fraud, and from presentation attacks to digitally injected attacks. Two years ago the majority of fraud in Brazil were presentation attacks and stolen identities, but today we see higher numbers of synthetic identity fraud and digital injection attacks. The immense increase in synthetic identity fraud, deepfakes, and digital injection attacks is having an impactful detriment on banks.
One key difference is that synthetic identities defraud the bank, not the account holders… and that makes it harder to quantify. It is often misrepresented as a business loss, instead of the fraud that it is.
Omar
There are two focuses for financial services. One is combating fraud. We are finding that banks are increasing their digital transactions without the correct security measures in place which leaves them vulnerable to more fraud, and this number will only increase if they don’t take action.
Secondly, where security levels are increasing there is a risk that usability is lost. There needs to be a focus placed on the inclusivity and accessibility of authentication to create a seamless user experience for banks’ customers.
Gustavo
Financial institutions must stick together and share information to survive. They need to remember that when a fraudster is successful in their attack, it means they have been attempting, and are still attempting, to attack many different financial institutions. One attack is not only bad for that specific organization, it’s bad for the whole of the financial sector in the region.
Renato
The high risk for banks lies in digital attacks, particularly the more sophisticated ones. These attacks leave financial institutions across the globe at risk, especially medium and small banks in Latin America who are not adequately prepared to combat this threat.
Ronald
Challenges for financial institutions include ensuring individuals across the whole country have equal access to services offered. Currently, many regions don’t have access to the internet, so developing a service that caters to all will be difficult.
Eduardo
One of the first to adopt digital identity is the banking industry. However, they have not yet implemented solutions to ensure the real-time authentication of the person, this is a crucial step banks need to take so they can trust that the individual authenticating is who they say they are.
Part of the reason why this transition to real-time authentication hasn’t happened is that banks in Latin America are still not aware of the damage that cutting-edge attacks can cause. It is our role to raise awareness of these attacks.
Question 6: What aspect of being Latin American makes you proud?
Daniel
There is a work ethic that comes from being Latin American that is unique. The countries we come from are economically underrepresented, and there is huge financial inequality. But in the face of hardship, people from these countries work extremely hard and are proud of their work.
Omar
What makes me most proud to be a Mexican is that we have a rich culture. We have many traditions and beautiful architecture incorporated with Spanish influence. And of course… I’m most proud of our food – we have incredible food! Some of our dishes have over 15 ingredients and take days to prepare and a lot of pride goes into preparing it.
Gustavo
Throughout all of Latin America, you’ll find people’s hearts are full. People here are happy regardless of their material possessions.
Renato
Many aspects make me proud to be Latin American including our rich culture, longstanding arts and traditions, the welcoming and positive attitude of the people… and, of course, our food!
Ronald
To sum up our culture in one word it would be ‘Hope’. Inequalities can be seen throughout Latin America and are more prevalent compared with other countries, but, despite this, we have a strong sense of happiness and belonging.
Eduardo
One aspect that makes me proud of being Latino is that I belong to a culture where there is much love for people, especially family. We are hard-working and honest people who always look for a reason not only to be better and happier but to share this with others.
Bonus Question for Daniel Molina – the team lead: How have you built an enthusiastic, highly motivated, and entertaining team?
My main job is to look after the culture of the team. When we come over to the UK, we’ll bring some candy or food from the region as a way of extending our Latin love. I try to imbue that into our team, we are coming into a different culture but we can bring a part of our culture with us.
As a team lead, I ensure I’m developing the right environment for them to grow and flourish, and challenging the people to be their best. Numbers are nice, but having the right balance is important. Learning, growing, and achieving results is really what matters.
Learn More About Deepfake Trends in Latin America Here.
Meet more of the iProov team below.
