Kucon has launched an authentication service that lets businesses confirm whether customers hold a card before payment. It supports payment gateway (PG) operators and rental, subscription and e-commerce companies by verifying cardholder and ownership information to reduce fraudulent payments and post-settlement risks.

Kucon said on Sunday it launched the "Card Ownership Verification Service" in partnership with authentication solutions firm Chingudot.

Under the service, users complete mobile identity verification and agree to a credit information inquiry, after which the system checks whether they hold cards in their own names. It adds a card ownership check step to the payment process to supplement existing authentication systems.

Linked with credit information companies, it can verify for all domestic card issuers whether a user holds a card, the number of credit cards held, and whether the date of the first card issuance matches. It also includes whether the user is registered for information that disrupts financial order, such as card cashing schemes.

This allows participating institutions to reduce the risk of fraudulent payments using cards in another person's name or stolen or lost cards. It also helps address settlement problems that could arise when customers deny having used the service after payment.

The service can be integrated via web links (SDK) and application programming interfaces (API). It can be used as an additional authentication method during card registration for easy payments or when applying for recurring or automatic payments, and it also supports a function that limits payment methods to card issuers for which the customer's card ownership has been confirmed during PG payments.

Kucon also provides non-face-to-face authentication services, including an API to detect copies of ID cards and verify their authenticity, and an easy certificate package linked to PASS, Naver and KakaoTalk.

Kucon CEO Jong-hyun Kim (김종현) said, "With this partnership as a starting point, we will continue to expand verified data and authentication services and take the lead in creating a safe financial ecosystem."