Lamassu Partners with IdentityMind to Offer Enhanced ATM Compliance

Bitcoin ATM manufacturer Lamassu Bitcoin Ventures has announced a new partnership with e-commerce compliance specialist IdentityMind Global.

First revealed informally on 5th October, the integration with IdentityMind will provide Lamassu bitcoin ATM owners with built-in anti-fraud and know-your-customer (KYC) services, automated suspicious activity report (SAR) filings, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring.

Lamassu CEO Zach Harvey characterized the deal as one way his company is seeking to better respond to "increasing scrutiny" from US and international regulators, as well as the recent guidance issued by the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), a traditional ATM trade association.

Harvey said:

“It has always been important for us not to burden the end-users of our machines with a complicated or intrusive compliance solution. This integration allows us to provide our operators with an affordable and quality solution that fits the Lamassu user experience.”

IdentityMind’s solution will allow Lamassu customers to scan the matrix (2D) barcodes on the back of ID documents, which can then be verified against third-party services.

Since launching last year, Lamassu has emerged as a market leader in the bitcoin ATM space. As of September, 40% of all active machines were made by the company.

Responding to customer needs

The update will likely be welcomed by Lamassu operators, many of whom have gone to lengths to ensure the compliance of their units in the past.

For example, the operator of the first Lamassu installed in the US notably indicated that he needed to supervise all transactions completed on the machine, manually recording customer names and addresses to ensure AML compliance.

By comparison, competitors such as Robocoin and BitAccess have long touted their AML and KYC compliance, although their machines retail at higher price points. Robocoin's two-way physical 'bank branches' retail for $15,000, while Lamassu's standard one-way bitcoin vending machines sell for $6,500.

For customers desiring a two-way option, Lamassu's cash-despensing ATM stand will set them back a further $5,500 – narrowing the price gap between the two companies' products.

Robocoin, Lamassu’s foremost competitor in the market, has also visibly struggled of late, with a number of customers voicing concerns on Reddit in recent weeks about the company’s delivery times and customer relations efforts.

IdentityMind expands

The move is also the latest for IdentityMind, the California-based compliance services company that began extending services to bitcoin businesses this April.

At that time, IdentityMind announced its Ignite product would be available for small bitcoin startups looking for complete compliance-as-a-service solutions, although the company said it had been previously active in the industry’s exchange sector.

IdentityMind president and CEO Garret Gafke suggested that the partnership with Lamassu will allow it to demonstrate the capabilities of its product in yet another vertical.

“This integration provides a great opportunity to showcase the effectiveness of our platform,” he said.

The Ignite product costs $150 a month for a full AML (anti-money laundering) program that includes KYC services and transaction monitoring.

Images via IdentityMind; Lamassu