Gaitame.com to Offer "LIQUID eKYC" Online Identity Verification Service

ELEMENTS Group's Liquid Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takeaki Hasegawa) will provide a method combining Public Personal Authentication (JPKI) and facial image capture from its online identity verification service "LIQUID eKYC" for the online account opening process of Gaitame.com Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Jun Takeuchi), a provider of FX services. This will complement the weakness of Public Personal Authentication (JPKI), where fraudulent applications are possible if the card and PIN are obtained by a third party, by using facial image capture to achieve more stringent identity verification.

"Gaitame.com" Account Opening Form (for individual customers): https://www.gaitame.com/account/kouza.html

*1 A method compliant with Article 6, Paragraph 1, Item 1 (ka) of the Cabinet Order for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds).

◾️ Summary

- Liquid will provide a method combining Public Personal Authentication (JPKI) and facial image capture from its online identity verification service "LIQUID eKYC" for Gaitame.com's online account opening process.

- In addition to complying with amendments to the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, facial image capture will complement the weaknesses of Public Personal Authentication (JPKI), enabling strict identity verification.

- The adoption was based on the company's flexible response to legal revisions, operational track record, and stable service provision system.

◾️ Background

In financial services, measures against fraudulent applications and impersonation are becoming increasingly important, and there is a growing need for mechanisms that can more reliably confirm that the applicant is the individual themselves, in addition to verifying identity documents. Furthermore, in light of the upcoming revisions to the Enforcement Regulations of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds scheduled for April 2027, companies must adapt to the sophistication and strictness of identity verification methods in non-face-to-face transactions.

Gaitame.com Co., Ltd., a provider of FX services, has identified enhancing the rigor of identity verification while ensuring customer convenience during the online account opening process as a key challenge.

◾️ Provided Method and Benefits

Liquid will now provide a method combining Public Personal Authentication (JPKI) and facial image capture from its online identity verification service "LIQUID eKYC" for Gaitame.com's online account opening process.

This will not only comply with amendments to the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds but also achieve strict identity verification by complementing the weakness of Public Personal Authentication (JPKI), where fraudulent applications are possible if the card and PIN are obtained by a third party. Additionally, by using smartphones, the identity verification process can be completed online, supporting improved convenience for users in opening accounts.

In addition to the Public Personal Authentication (JPKI) + facial image capture method, Liquid also offers the "Individual Number IC Chip Reading Option" and the "eKYC Manager Audit Log Option." These prevent fraudulent registrations and impersonation due to forged My Number cards, eliminating the need for users to manually enter their numbers or for operators to visually verify them. They also meet the system audit requirements necessary to comply with the "FISC (Center for Financial Industry Information Systems) Security Standards" required by financial institutions.

◾️ Deciding Factor for Adopting "LIQUID eKYC"

The selection of "LIQUID eKYC" was driven by its flexible response to legal revisions through the provision of multiple identity verification methods, its operational track record, and its stable service provision system. In particular, the ability to improve the accuracy of identity verification through Public Personal Authentication (JPKI) utilizing the IC chip of the My Number card was a significant deciding factor.

◾️ About Gaitame.com Co., Ltd.

Gaitame.com Co., Ltd. offers over-the-counter FX services such as "Gaitame Next Neo" and "Rakuraku FX Tsumitate" to individual investors, with a total of over 900,000 accounts. Under the theme of "Making Foreign Exchange More Accessible," the company provides services tailored to individual investors, focusing on information dissemination through its owned media "Maneiku Channel" and YouTube broadcasts.

The company's trading environment and support system are highly regarded externally. It ranked first in four categories, including "Overall (6 consecutive years)," in the "MINKABU" FX Company Comparison 2026 Annual Rankings*2. Furthermore, it has received the highest rank of three stars for eight consecutive years (2019-2026) in the "Web Support" and "Inquiry Desk" categories of the HDI Rating Benchmark.

*2 Survey by "Minkabu FX" (as of June 2026)

Location: Palazzo Astec 4F, 2-8-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Jun Takeuchi, Representative Director and President

Established: April 1, 2002 (Heisei 14)

Business Activities: (1) Over-the-counter derivative trading business via the internet (2) Other

Website: https://www.gaitame.com/

◾️ About "LIQUID eKYC," which has held the No. 1 market share in the eKYC market for 7 consecutive years*3

This service allows for online completion of identity verification for online contracts and account openings. Utilizing proprietary AI, biometric authentication, and OCR technology, it provides a smooth experience that minimizes user drop-off. It supports various methods such as capturing identity documents like My Number cards and driver's licenses, reading IC chips, and Public Personal Authentication (JPKI). In recent years, with the spread of generative AI, the sophistication and cunning of fraud and impersonation methods have increased, making eKYC, which enhances the certainty of identity verification by reading IC chips in addition to capturing document images, even more necessary. The application scenarios for eKYC are also rapidly expanding, including identity verification during the registration of passkeys, which are phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication, and during account recovery.

The ELEMENTS Group has a cumulative total of 150 million identity verifications and over 700 companies have adopted the service.

Website: https://liquidinc.asia/liquid-ekyc/

About Public Personal Authentication: https://liquidinc.asia/jpki/

*3 ITR "ITR Market View: Identity and Access Management / Personal Authentication Security Market 2026" eKYC Market: Sales Revenue Share by Vendor (FY2019-FY2025 Forecast)

◾️ About Liquid Inc.

Liquid aims to realize a seamless society where all approximately 8 billion people in the world can easily and safely use all services in their natural state by making authentication as ubiquitous as air through the use of biometric authentication. In line with the trend of online identity verification in financial transactions (Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds), mobile phone contracts (Act on Prevention of Illicit Use of Mobile Phones), used goods purchases (Secondhand Articles Dealer Act), real estate transactions, and CtoC transactions, the company provides a system for cross-industry fraud detection across various businesses and adopters, pursuing both convenience and security.

Location: 5F, Nihonbashi Life Science Building 3, 3-8-3 Nihonbashi Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Takeaki Hasegawa, Representative Director

Established: December 2018

Business Activities: Image analysis and big data analysis specializing in biometric information and behavior (LIQUID eKYC, LIQUID Auth, etc.)

Website: https://liquidinc.asia

Service Sites:

Identity Verification Service "LIQUID eKYC" https://liquidinc.asia/liquid-ekyc/

Possession Authentication Service "LIQUID Auth Passkey" https://liquidinc.asia/liquid-auth-passkey/

Cloud-based Facial Recognition Service "LIQUID Auth Face" https://liquidinc.asia/liquid-auth/

Digital ID Wallet "PASS" https://liquidinc.asia/smartcity/

Digital ID Wallet for Foreigners "GPASS" https://liquidinc.asia/gpass/

◾️ About ELEMENTS Inc.

Location: 5F, Nihonbashi Life Science Building 3, 3-8-3 Nihonbashi Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Keiki Hasegawa, Representative Director and President

Securities Code: TSE Growth Market 5246

Established: December 2013

Business Activities: Development and provision of personal authentication solutions utilizing biometric authentication, image analysis, and machine learning technologies; personal optimization solutions for food, clothing, and shelter; and cloud services for managing personal information.

Website: https://elementsinc.jp/

*Trademarks and company names mentioned in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.