INSPIRATION

It is estimated that approximately one billion people across the world do not have access to an officially recognizable identity. Most of these people live in developing economies. The ability of a person to prove their identity is fundamental to their active participation in political, social, and economic life. Without a trustworthy identification mechanism, an individual may be unable to exercise the range of human rights as set out by international laws and conventions. This is of particular concern for marginalized individuals, such as forcibly displaced or stateless persons, and other vulnerable groups, who lack the most basic form of identification. They are also prone to be excluded from accessing and using financial services that are key to their livelihoods. Furthermore, the accurate verification of identity is integral to the Know Your Customer (KYC) processes necessary for compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulation. The inability of financial institutions to properly verify prospective clients will lead to financial exclusion

Large Numbers Still Lack KYC Compliant Identification

Historically, opening a bank account in many markets has proved to be a challenge due to Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines, which require proof of identity and address. Unbanked groups often suffer disproportionately as a result of their inability to offer proof of identity. Such identification is generally based on birth certificates and passports, and proof of address based on utility bill payments. Over a billion (17.7 %) of the world’s population remain unable to meet official KYC requirements.

Digital Financial Services has Driven Financial Inclusion

Premised on digital and mobile solutions, Digital Financial Services (DFS) has transformed the landscape of the financial sector. It has brought about increased efficiency, convenience, and consumer options. DFS has increased access to financial services for a population that has hitherto been financially excluded. As per GSMA’s 2016 State of the Industry Report-Decade Edition, there are 500 million registered mobile money accounts globally, of which 118 million are active (on the basis of at least one transaction in 30 days). The number of active mobile money agents (on the same basis) stands at 2.3 million.

THE CHALLENGE

Our identity and footprint are increasingly becoming digitized—more of our hard copy credentials and financial data are converting into digital formats. We use these digital credentials to work, learn, play, socialize, shop, and consume services online and offline every day. It’s so convenient and expected now to be able to have these aspects of life accessible at our fingertips. More than half of the global economy is based on or influenced by digital. Digital information becomes fluid and interconnected across services. However, it’s not always under our control as individuals.

Digital ID and Footprints – a critical enabler for financial inclusion

The World Bank estimates that roughly one billion people lack official foundational identification. These one billion people are unable to prove their identity (ID), and millions more have forms of identification that cannot be reliably verified or authenticated, while millions of unbanked people in low-income countries wake up to the glowing light of their mobile phones. These people have mobile phones, but not formal financial services. CGAP and GSMA estimated that close to 2 billion people will have a mobile phone but not a bank account.

resulting in exclusion from economic opportunities – such as those being created by the emerging digital economy – most especially in the financial sector where they can potentially access services to be able to enrich their lives.

What it does

fide or Financial identity decentralized ecosystem has a mobile application with a digital identity VAULT secured with blockchain technology and AI/ML capabilities to analyze user transactional and behavioral data.

fIDe Vault

Give users control of their digital identity:

Save - Save verifiable credentials and access them whenever and wherever you need them.
Store - Store and manage your digital identity documents on your mobile device
Share - Selectively share your data with financial service providers.

fIDe Avatar

To give users a more clear picture of their digital identity and digital financial footprint an avatar is created as their Virtual Persona. Financial Traits - Financial Mood - By showing the right kind of data and information on-demand to users it empowers them to assess and get a better understanding of their financial well-being.

fIDe Algorithm

Using machine learning, the fIDe Algorithm determines your financial traits and mood and evaluates your creditworthiness based on your digital financial footprint such as utility bills payment and mobile phone usage.

fIDe Protocol

Designed with the principles of W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DID), the fIDe Protocol provides the infrastructure for connecting the certified identity providers with financial service providers.

For the certified identity providers: Signs verifiable credentials that users can store on the vault and use multiple times

For the financial service providers: Validates the verifiable credentials shared by the user

Key Benefits

For the certified identity providers

Unlock new revenue streams when financial services providers request verifications for a credential you've created.

For the users

Give greater control to the users over their digital identity by giving them the option to selectively share information, rather than share all of the information on their IDs and documents. This will provide a seamless experience during customer onboarding or identity verification.

For the financial service providers

Enable faster and seamless customer onboarding, whether for KYC compliance, document verification or identity verification. With a sub-one minute verification, this will reduce losses from problems like phishing, fraud and human errors. With this, they can improve customer experience and cut costs.

How we built it

fiDE is designed using the principles of W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DID)

• Vault - A mobile app built with Flutter that stores the verifiable credentials

• Algorithm - A service that uses machine learning to create models for the traits and credit score calculations. Recommendation algorithms to give recommended products to the user.

• Protocol - A web app for issuing a signed verifiable credential and a service that financial service providers can use to verify credentials.

Technologies Used:

• W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DID)

• Azure ML Studio

• Azure Active Directory Verifiable Credentials

• Flutter(dart)

• Wolf3D SDK

• Figma