Underdog partners with Socure for global bank-level security for KYC controls

For online gaming platforms, high volume periods like the NFL season can bring a rise in fraudulent activity. 

This can look like bonus hunters creating multiple accounts to take advantage of promotions, to more serious scenarios such as identity theft or the use of synthetic identities to establish valid accounts on the platform. These platforms also contend with attempts to obtain unauthorized access to players’ accounts through phishing, keylogging, and credential stuffing. 

In a highly competitive environment, a seamless user experience is paramount — especially when it comes to onboarding and depositing or withdrawing funds. Players want instant options that give them the quickest outcome without any extra hurdles or friction. 

The balance between the company’s risk appetite and the regulatory framework is always top of mind.

Underdog, now the fourth most downloaded sports gaming app in the U.S., was challenged by the manual review processes that led to long waiting times for players.  

It needed a strategic partner to help balance automation and manual intervention, and create global-bank level security for its KYC controls — all so it can onboard more good users faster.

The challenge

By far, the most common fraud Underdog was seeing was friendly fraud. Where third-party fraud involves using a cardholder’s information without their consent, friendly fraud involves the actual cardholder or someone within that household making a transaction and then disputing it later. 

During the prior NFL season, the Underdog team was forced to manually review far too many accounts, which resulted in longer waiting times for its players — and additional headcount to handle the volume. 

To address these challenges, Underdog leverages internal and third-party data and analytics in order to provide the best experience to our player base, built on a solid risk framework and guided by evolving models and recommendations. 

“Data plays a crucial role as it provides us with undisputable, irrefutable hard evidence. Every decision that Underdog makes is based on data,” said Karl Gambin, VP of Fraud and Payments.

“We tend to stay away from old-fashioned models of doing business and strive to be innovative and unique, which is very evident in our product offering.”

During peak season, Underdog is constantly monitoring the efficiency and effectiveness of its proprietary fraud models in addition to third-party provided services, including its partnership with Socure. 

How Socure helped

Teaming up with Socure, Underdog continually analyzes logic in relation to observed patterns and makes changes as the season progresses. 

By partnering with Socure, Underdog implemented global bank-level security for its Know Your Customer (KYC) controls, setting a new standard in the sports gaming industry and ensuring a secure, seamless experience for its rapidly growing user base.

Underdog has since strengthened the KYC process by adopting the latest risk models together with several composite triggers from Socure to ensure that they are letting in good players and blocking more fraud before it occurs.

Underdog prides itself by going above and beyond the regulatory requirements, adopting a player-centric approach where the safety and integrity of the platform are constantly at the forefront. 

The results

Through the partnership with Socure, Underdog achieved remarkable improvements in their fraud prevention capabilities:

• Established bank-level security: Implemented KYC controls that exceed industry standards, even surpassing those of the largest operators in the sector.
• Efficient fraud detection: Significantly reduced false positives, enabling more accurate identification of genuine users while effectively blocking fraudulent activities.
• Streamlined operations: Achieved a 700K+ reduction in manual account reviews, dramatically improving operational efficiency and user onboarding speed.
• Enhanced user experience: Successfully balanced robust security measures with a seamless user experience, particularly crucial during high-traffic periods like the NFL season.
• Proactive fraud prevention: Improved ability to block fraud before it occurs, strengthening overall platform integrity and player trust.

By implementing these strategies, Underdog has successfully positioned itself as a leader in fraud prevention within the sports gaming industry, ensuring a secure and seamless experience for its rapidly growing user base.

Moving forward

By partnering with Socure, Underdog transformed its approach to fraud prevention, setting a new benchmark in the sports gaming industry. This collaboration not only solved Underdog’s immediate challenges but also positioned the company for sustainable growth, ensuring that as their user base expands, their security measures can seamlessly scale to meet new demands.