Data analysis provider TransUnion has led a $24m funding round for US-based customer authentication technology developer Payfone that included MassMutual Ventures, the strategic investment vehicle for insurer Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance.
Consumer financial services provider Synchrony Financial and investment manager Wellington Management also took part in the round. George Miller, TransUnion’s senior vice-president of global fraud and identity solutions, will join Payfone’s board of directors
Payfone offers digital authentication tools that enable businesses to verify the identity of customers during online sessions. The products are meant to reassure businesses deterred from online transactions by cyberattacks, stolen identities and other fraud-related risks.
TransUnion and Payfone have also entered into a strategic partnership that will allow the corporate to build Payfone’s technologies into its own digital identity management software and support Payfone as it expands into international markets.
The company has now raised $102m altogether, $23m of which came in a September 2018 round featuring MassMutual Ventures, Synchrony subsidiary Synchrony Ventures and private investors Anil Aggarwal, Jonathan Weiner and Andrew Prozes.
Payfone’s earlier investors include BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, American Express Ventures, Verizon Ventures and Rogers Venture Partners – subsidiaries of health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, payment services firm American Express and telecommunications firms Verizon and Rogers respectively.
Payment technology provider Transaction Network Services and Early Warning Services, a joint venture between five financial services firms, are also backers, as are land developer Maclab Development Group, RRE Ventures, Opus Capital, Relay Ventures and Strauss Zelnick.