NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioCatch, the global leader in behavioral biometrics, announced today that it has appointed FinTech industry luminary Howard Edelstein as CEO. Edelstein will assume the CEO role while maintaining his current position as BioCatch Chairman, which he has held since 2016.
Widely recognized as a corporate innovator and financial industry visionary, Edelstein has turned start-ups into industry leaders, led successful turnarounds, and demonstrated the ability to create significant shareholder value while serving as CEO of Thomson Financial ESG during the late 1990s. He pioneered electronic trade confirmation in the U.S. while at Thomson and subsequently at Omgeo, which became the industry standard for post-trade processing. In 2003, as CEO of Radianz, now the financial network services division of BT, Edelstein saw the enormous potential of cloud computing and played a key role in motivating the financial industry to embrace cloud-based services. Thereafter, Edelstein led a corporate turnaround at NYFIX (a delisted Nasdaq company), a strategic rebuild of BondDesk Group on behalf of private equity investors, and a carve-out of REDI Global Technologies from Goldman Sachs. All were eventually sold to larger industry players.
Edelstein assumes the CEO role at a critical juncture for the online identity industry, which is poised to address some of the most dangerous threats yet to emerge. Data breaches have become routine and are eroding trust in our connected economy. As the market leader in behavioral biometrics, BioCatch delivers a breakthrough technology that identifies people not by what they know (secret question or password) or what they have (token or one-time SMS code), but by who they are, as demonstrated by their online behavior.
BioCatch's patented technology uses continuous authentication, collecting and analyzing more than 2,000 traits after login to prevent fraud in real time. When unusual behavior is detected, real-time alerts are generated and the activity is logged and can be visualized for further investigation as needed. Monitoring more than 5 billion transactions per month, BioCatch provides a solution that reduces friction, decreases fraud and associated cyber threats, and provides quantifiable business value.
“BioCatch has all of the ingredients required to drive a transformation of the cybersecurity industry: a great team, a transformative technology and a leading market position in a rapidly growing category,” said Edelstein. “As pioneers in behavioral biometric technologies with more than 50 patents issued or pending, BioCatch is perfectly positioned to be the behavioral component inside all digital identity authentication platforms.”
“Howard has been an extremely active chairman and has already delivered significant value to BioCatch through his many longstanding relationships within the financial technology industry,” said Bruce K. Taragin, Managing Director of Blumberg Capital and BioCatch board member. “I am delighted that he has stepped into the role of CEO as well. Given
Howard’s experience, strategic vision and success scaling businesses, I can think of no one more qualified to take BioCatch to the next level.”
Edelstein has been the recipient of numerous industry awards. In 2008, he was named one of the “15 Who Made a Difference” in the 15th anniversary issue of Waters Magazine. He also received Global Custodian’s FINTECH 25-Year Legends Award in 2010 for his innovations and overall industry contributions. More recently, Institutional Investor Magazine named Edelstein to its "Trading Tech 40" list and to its “Fintech Finance 35” ranking of industry financiers.
“In an industry that tends to move in lockstep, Howard is an original thinker who is not afraid to challenge preconceived notions and assumptions,” said Simon McNamara, Chief Administrative Officer, Royal Bank of Scotland. “He has the right leadership skills for an innovative company like BioCatch, whose breakthrough technology has already become an integral part of our fraud and authentication strategy.”