Mitek, a provider of digital identity verification, has acquired ID R&D, an provider of artificial intelligence-based voice and face biometrics and liveness detection. Shareholders of ID R&D will be entitled to receive up to $49 million in Mitek stock and cash as consideration.

ID R&D’s facial and voice biometric services provide protection against identity theft and dangerous fraud techniques, such as deepfakes and synthetic voice augmentation.

“Today’s consumers are transacting in a digital-first world, and they expect to trust technology to keep them safe against burgeoning threats. Identity verification has never been more relevant,” said Max Carnecchia, CEO Mitek Systems. “Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are enabling novel forms of fraud, which means technologies like those pioneered by ID R&D are critical in this fight.”

The integration of Mitek and ID R&D simplifies and secures the entire transaction lifecycle for both businesses and consumers. Businesses and financial institutions will have access to one authentication solution to deploy throughout the complete transaction cycle, and can provide consumers with a simple, intuitive approach to fighting fraud.

“Consumers want an easy, frictionless experience. We are proud to join Mitek to scale our leading voice biometrics, facial liveness and deepfake detection technologies,” said Alexey Khitrov, CEO at ID R&D. “This move accelerates our vision to be the industry’s center of excellence to fight fraud more seamlessly without inconveniencing customers.”