Melody Williams
Verinity helps banks stop authorised push payment fraud by targeting the scammer, not the victim being manipulated into paying.
Project
Verinity Ltd
Year founded
2025
Business stage
Pre-seed
High-growth sectors
Digital and Technologies
Sector
Security & Defence
Location
London
Funding
Funded Award Winner
The problem and opportunity
Authorised push payment fraud losses reached £576m in 2025, up 19% and climbing as criminals adopt AI. Victims of romance, investment and impersonation scams are manipulated into authorising payments themselves. Banks now shoulder much of the reimbursement cost since new regulations came into play in October 2024. Yet most prevention efforts still focus on stopping the victim at the point when they are under the greatest pressure.
The solution and innovation
Verinity takes a different approach. Instead of placing more warnings, delays or decisions in front of the customer, it focuses on disrupting the scammer’s ability to succeed. That shifts the burden away from people being manipulated and onto the criminal behind the fraud. The approach is patent-pending, supported by Innovate UK, and informed by deep financial-crime expertise from inside the banking industry.
Market and ambition
Verinity serves banks and payment providers facing rising APP fraud losses and reimbursement costs, and is in conversation with fraud teams across tier 1, tier 2, private wealth and challenger banks. Our ambition is to move from first deployments to widespread adoption in the UK and beyond.
Founder perspective
Melody Williams founded Verinity after a career building businesses and seeing the damage fraud causes long after the money has gone. She built it on a simple belief: when someone is manipulated by a professional criminal, prevention should not depend on them making the right decision at exactly the wrong moment.
Women in Innovation Award
Recipient of an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award 2025/26, receiving funding, tailored business support, and access to specialist training and networks. View all winners and highly commended applicants from the Women in Innovation cohort 2025/2026.