XConnect and Honey Badger Partner to Strengthen Digital Trust via Network APIs

XConnect and Honey Badger have entered a strategic partnership to integrate global mobile network intelligence with real-world identity data. For fintech professionals, this represents a shift toward multi-layered digital trust, moving beyond single-point APIs to provide more robust verification and fraud prevention throughout the customer journey, from initial onboarding to transaction monitoring.

What was announced

Announced in London on September 14th, 2026, the collaboration focuses on merging XConnect’s numbering intelligence and mobile identity services with Honey Badger’s specialist risk and identity data. The partnership is designed to serve enterprises, banks, and payment platforms that require more sophisticated decisioning than standalone APIs can offer in an increasingly complex fraud landscape.

Under the terms of the agreement, Honey Badger will integrate XConnect’s global Network APIs and mobile identity services into its platform. This allows Honey Badger to augment its existing risk solutions with trusted mobile network signals sourced from operators worldwide. Conversely, XConnect will incorporate Honey Badger’s proprietary identity datasets into its own portfolio. This integration enables XConnect customers to combine real-world Know Your Customer (KYC) intelligence with mobile network signals and advanced trust solutions, including XConnect’s Pulse.

The result is a layered approach to digital trust that facilitates more intelligent customer journeys. The process begins with intelligent pre-qualification, followed by enrichment through trusted mobile network signals, and concludes with verification using Honey Badger’s unique identity data. By bringing together these complementary strengths rather than duplicating existing capabilities, the two companies aim to help businesses move beyond discrete data points toward genuinely intelligent identity decisioning that scales globally.

"At Honey Badger, we care about solving real problems for our customers. That's why we believe multiple data sources, orchestrated to maximise coverage and trust, are far more powerful than any single API. By combining our unique identity data with XConnect's Global Network Intelligence, we're moving customers beyond discrete data points to answering the identity and trust questions they're asking."

Matt Salisbury, CEO and Founder, Honey Badger.

The companies involved

XConnect, a Somos Company, is a provider of global numbering intelligence, mobile identity, and fraud prevention services. Led by CEO and Founder Eli Katz, the firm focuses on delivering data that helps businesses validate telecommunications signals and mitigate risk. As part of the Somos corporate family, XConnect occupies a central role in the numbering intelligence market, providing the technical infrastructure necessary for enterprises to verify the legitimacy of mobile users across international borders. Its Chief Identity Officer, Mark Harvey, has emphasized the need for the industry to move beyond basic API conversations toward sophisticated intelligence sourcing.

Honey Badger, which operates via honeybadger.se, is a specialist firm focused on risk and identity. Led by CEO and Founder Matt Salisbury, the company provides proprietary identity datasets that help organisations verify the real-world status of their customers. Unlike generalist data providers, Honey Badger positions itself as a specialist in solving complex identity problems through orchestrated data sources. The company operates in an environment where the demand for high-fidelity KYC data is increasing due to heightened regulatory pressure and the rising sophistication of digital identity theft. Together, these companies represent a convergence of telecommunications-based signals and traditional identity verification methods.

What this means

This partnership signals a maturation in the identity market, where the "API-first" mantra is being replaced by a "data-orchestration" priority. As fraud becomes more sophisticated, single-signal verification—such as just checking a phone number or just checking a database—is increasingly insufficient for high-stakes fintech transactions. The pressure is now on point-solution providers who lack either the global network reach or the deep, proprietary KYC data to compete with these integrated stacks. The industry is moving toward a model where the value lies not in the connection itself, but in the intelligence derived from layering disparate, specialist datasets in real-time. This raises questions for the sector about how many independent data silos can survive without similar strategic consolidations.