authID Inc. (AUID) shares surged Thursday morning, nearly doubling in value after the company announced a partnership with ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) to bring biometric identity verification to contact centers worldwide. The integration addresses what's become a serious problem: contact center fraud is booming, and traditional security measures aren't cutting it anymore.

The collaboration gives ServiceNow's massive contact center network access to authID's biometric authentication tools, potentially protecting thousands of customer service interactions from fraudsters trying to hijack accounts through help desk social engineering.

Securing the Fortune 500's Front Door

The scale here matters. authID said the integration will help secure more than 8,400 contact centers powered by ServiceNow, including those at 85% of Fortune 500 firms. That's a lot of phone calls and a lot of potential fraud targets. The collaboration tackles threats to both consumer identities and workforce credentials, recognizing that bad actors don't discriminate.

The Mechanics of Verification

As a ServiceNow Build Partner, authID has connected its biometric verification suite directly into ServiceNow's contact center platform. Here's how it works in practice: when someone calls a help desk asking to change account details or make sensitive requests, agents can now trigger identity verification through SMS or email prompts before taking action.

authID's tools, including Proof, Verified, and PrivacyKey, integrate through ServiceNow UI Actions. This makes the platform more interactive and tailored for specific user tasks while dramatically reducing the risk of account takeover at help desks, where fraudsters traditionally exploit overwhelmed agents and weak security protocols.

Creating a Paper Trail

The integration also records authentication outcomes in ServiceNow logs, providing audit evidence that confirms a legitimate user initiated any account access or modification. That's important not just for security but for compliance and forensics when something does go wrong.

"Digital identity verification at the contact center accelerates business transformation," said Rhon Daguro, CEO of authID. He emphasized that the ServiceNow link protects user accounts while enhancing customer experience, solving the perpetual tension between security and convenience.

The timing makes sense. Contact centers remain frequent targets for fraud precisely because verification has traditionally been weak. Knowledge-based authentication like "What's your mother's maiden name?" doesn't work when that information is already floating around data breaches. Enhanced identity tools like authID's biometric verification help organizations safeguard sensitive data and reduce operational risk without making legitimate customers jump through impossible hoops.

AUID Price Action: authID shares were up 97.48% at $1.96 at the time of publication on Thursday.