"The third largest economy in the world": Inside Mobai's mission to eliminate fraud with biometrics

Mobai CEO Brage Strand sat down with TechWatch to talk about fraud, encryption, and Europe's race to build its own digital identity infrastructure. Here's what he shared and what it means for the road ahead.

"Our vision is to eliminate fraud in the world using biometrics," says Mobai CEO Brage Strand in a recent interview with TechWatch. It's a bold statement, but Strand backs it with a number that puts the scale of the problem in perspective. He describes fraud crime as "the third largest economy in the world." That is the market Mobai has built its entire technology around disrupting.

From an NTNU research lab to 50+ banks

Mobai was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from NTNU, born out of a research team that saw an opportunity to bring serious biometric science into banking and financial services. The company's core product combines facial biometrics and liveness detection. Utilised both to secure onboarding when a new account or identity is created, and for ongoing verification that the person using an account over time is still the right one.

That focus has translated into real traction. Mobai has secured agreements with more than 50 banks and provides a key technology component in an ID verification solution launched in partnership with Posten. They are also a partner in NTNU's new centre against digital fraud keeping the company closely tied to the research environment it grew out of.

Matching faces without ever seeing them

What sets Mobai apart technically, according to Strand, is that facial matching happens entirely in an encrypted domain meaning biometric data never has to be decrypted on Mobai's side at all.

"We can perform facial recognition without us as the vendor ever needing to see a face, because we do it in an encrypted domain," he explains.

It's a meaningful shift for an industry where comparable encrypted-matching approaches have historically been slow. Strand notes that matching that once took a full day can now be brought down to milliseconds without sacrificing the privacy, that makes the approach worthwhile in the first place.

For banks, that combination of speed and privacy is about more than convenience, it's core to GDPR compliance. Mobai typically operates as a data processor, while its bank and enterprise customers remain the data controllers responsible for their end users data.

"Very often we are a data processor on behalf of another party, and it is ultimately that party which bears the responsibility. We build technology to protect their data, the end users data," Strand says.

Positioning for the EU digital wallet

Looking ahead, Strand points to one of the biggest shifts on the horizon for European identity, the EU's digital wallet. Planned for rollout by the end of 2026 and expected to put digital wallets in the hands of around 400 million Europeans, including Norway.

Mobai sees a clear opportunity to act as a component supplier that multiple parties across the identity chain can rely on.

"We build very relevant technology for this. It's about ensuring that the right user is using the wallet over time, and verifying that this person's biometrics match. It's especially relevant when issuing identities for the first time" he says.

Strand draws a comparison to Vipps, a product that earned its position in the market by solving one specific need extremely well. He expects the broader identity market to become a battleground between global giants like Google and Apple, established ID players, and emerging European solutions.

"Many of our competitors use American providers perhaps there are also some formerly Russian biometrics companies. So we are committed to being a European alternative," he says.

Instant payments and digital wallets, Strand argues, represent a dream scenario for fraudsters which is exactly why he sees it as an opportunity for a company like Mobai, built to deliver verification at the precise moment money moves.

Staying independent in a market built on acquisitions

Mobai currently has around 30+ employees and is actively hiring across both its technology and commercial teams as it scales. That growth is happening in a market where many specialised biometrics companies get acquired and folded into larger platforms as modules.

"A great many of our competitors get acquired by a player and then become part of a product package," Strand notes.

He sees that pattern as a strategic risk for the banks and ID players who come to depend on those components and as an opening for Mobai to establish itself as an independent specialist rather than a feature inside someone else's platform.

Right now, the focus is on scaling geographically, not preparing for an exit.

"The most important steps we are taking right now are into new territories in Europe. We have identified areas in Northern Europe and Central Europe, and finding the right partners for scaling is absolutely critical," he says.

Why this matters

Mobai's approach encrypted-domain matching, a data-processor model built for GDPR, and a deliberate identity as a European alternative puts real substance behind the ambition Strand describes. With more than 50 banks already on board, a role in Posten's ID verification solution, a seat in NTNU's fraud research centre, and the EU digital wallet on the near horizon, Mobai is positioning itself as the kind of independent, privacy-first infrastructure Europe's next generation of digital identity will need.

As the market consolidates around a handful of large platforms, Mobai is betting that staying independent and staying European is exactly what will set it apart.

Learn more about Mobai's technology and open roles at mobai.bio.