Protecting customer data in a regulated operating environment

Protecting customer data in a regulated operating environment

James Varga explains how The ID Co. is helping to change the way people share personal information

Caspar Herzberg |


This article was originally published in the Summer 2018 issuof The Record. 

The ID Co. set out to establish a trusted way for customers to be recognised online, without the risk of data being compromised. Identity validation online remains one of the biggest problems facing the internet, creating opportunities for cybercriminals, slowing down simple tasks and preventing people from doing business safely online.

By using cutting edge data identity technology, leveraging the power of open banking and our many years of industry experience, we have set out to revolutionise the way people share their personal information on the internet.

Seven years ago, we were ahead of the curve and we still are. If you think about it, your bank holds detailed knowledge about you – and that knowledge can become a secure way to operate online. Our mission is to use the data we already share with banks to provide the convenience we all want – to be able to sign up to new products and services in seconds.

When we started talking about using bank data in the UK, some people laughed us out of the room. This was always going to be the case when you are several steps ahead, but for us it just redoubled our efforts. Along with 100 leading professionals, I was involved in the UK’s Open Banking Working Group, chairing the data sub-group. The thinking we did there is part of a revolution in what is now called open banking and which is having an impact across the globe.

Open banking has since become a tsunami wave of change, with all nine of the UK’s main banks having to embrace the approach. As a small Scottish fintech, we are now scaling and working with these banks to help them keep on top of the open banking revolution.

While we are based in Edinburgh, we are active around the globe. We work with our customers across a range of geographies and use cases to create the tidal wave of change that’s transforming the banking sector. Our DirectID business products help achieve this by removing friction caused in the application process by current risk, compliance and fraud challenges or regulations. The products we provide solve business pains such as assessing a customer’s affordability whilst verifying their account information to offset credit risk.

The pace of work does strange things to your perspective on time. We moved into Norloch House in early 2018 and, while it has gone past in a flash, we look back on everything that has happened since and it feels incredible how time has flown by.

James Varga is chief executive at The ID Co.

 

Subscribe to the Technology Record newsletter


  • ©2024 Tudor Rose. All Rights Reserved. Technology Record is published by Tudor Rose with the support and guidance of Microsoft.