Jumio lands $25 million to make web cams read IDs

Mobile payments are becoming a big deal in the online and mobile shopping realm. There are accessories for notebooks and some smartphones and tablets that allow you to swipe a credit card or use NFC technology for payments on the go. A new startup called Jumio has announced that it has raised $25 million in series B funding to develop its new technology and bring it to market, which complements its existing credit card reading tech.

Last year, Jumio launched technology turns the web cam on your notebook or other device into a credit card reader called Netswipe. The company is back with new technology that is called Netverify, and it can read all sorts of ID documents. The new technology is designed to scan any ID simply by holding it in front of a web cam.

The idea is that you could take a photo of your passport or drivers license, and fax or e-mail it to another recipient. I can see a potential use for this in online shopping as well. You could hold up your drivers license and enter your shipping information directly rather than having to type in. Then using the company's Netswipe technology you could hold up your credit card and pay without having to type. Netverify would cost one dollar per scan and produce instant results. The company says the technology will eventually be made available to mobile developers using an API.

[via Betakit]