Fintech Scout
Vouchsafe
London
Meet Vouchsafe, a London-based fintech at the vanguard of digital ID innovation.
This is Fintech Scout, where founders from across the globe explain why they created their company, what they're trying to achieve, and who they're looking to work with and hire.
Want to feature your business? Get in touch at team@letfintechgrow.com
The Basics
AI-powered fraud has just made video selfies and passport pictures completely useless for security.
Going Deeper
Who are you building your product/service for, and what painful problem are you taking away from their day?
Regulated firms (banks, lenders, fintechs) all have to verify customers, and right now the best way to do it is by asking for pictures of passports and utility bills. It's annoying for everyone involved and not even very safe. If you're one of the 11 million who don't have a passport or driving licence then you're truly stuck.
If a top-tier VC is reading this, what would you want them to understand about your company in 30 seconds?
The timing is just right for digital ID:
In the next 6-12 months, the average customer of a regulated firm will become more likely than not to have one they understand and can use.
AI-powered fraud has just made video selfies and passport pictures completely useless for security.
What are you doing differently than your competitors?
Digital ID is brand new, but it won't solve the problem all by itself. We can see the barriers to adoption clearly:
There are lots of competing digital ID schemes that don't work together.
It will be a long time until everyone has a digital ID they understand and can use.
A firm doesn't necessarily get all the information it needs from a particular digital ID. We are engineering solutions to them.
How did you meet, and why have you partnered with each other on this business?
We met at university, worked on student newspapers together, and had parallel career paths until we both quit our job together in 2022. We have the same drive to make change.
What was the “this has to exist” moment that made you start the company?
Chloe led user research on Universal Credit and saw how hard it was for people to prove who they were; bringing binders of paperwork into the Jobcentre to be allowed to claim the benefit.
How do you make money? Which part of your business model are you most excited about scaling?
Vouchsafe is £399/month for everything. Competitor pricing is rarely transparent, and varies based on industry and volume. There are often extra fees for retries, abandoned verifications, integration and support. We're excited about offering a simple, transparent price for everything.
Which proof points matter most right now?
We're focused on scaling our customers and verification volumes.
How does your product/service make the world a better place?
Vouchsafe is aligned with UN SDG 11.9*.
With our inclusive fallbacks, we help people get verified when they would struggle elsewhere. That helps them in turn access banking, credit, employment and other essentials.
*United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
What’s been your biggest unexpected challenge so far, and what did it force you to learn quickly?
Our first customer was the Scottish Government, who provided an incredible amount of money for the stage we were at, but we struggled to balance their needs with the needs of the wider market. We had to temper our enthusiasm and make sure we didn't build Vouchsafe just for them.
What does success look like in 12 months? What about in 5 years?
12 months: The obvious choice for forward-thinking firms that want to get away from nasty little utility bill and driving licence photos.
5 years: Essential trust infrastructure for any business that has to know who people are; the Visa of identity.
What type of partner or collaborator would most accelerate your journey right now? (If relevant, which roles are you hiring for?)
Payment processors, card issuers, EMIs and other companies working in payments who are interested in using Vouchsafe to boost:
Transaction monitoring
New merchant onboarding/KYB checks
Finish this sentence: “We’ll know we’ve really made it when…”
…Amex get back to us.
Website vouchsafe.id
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Want to feature in Fintech Scout? Get in touch at info@ianhorne.media, and let me know what you're building. Features are not endorsements unless stated.