Nigerian payments startup JostPay has launched JostKYC, a screening solutions platform that helps businesses with their know Know Your Customer (KYC) needs by verifying identities of customers.
Launched in 2014, JostPay offers APIs to businesses allowing them to accept payment via a variety of means.
JostKYC was launched last month, helping businesses screen customers via email authentication, bank name verification, driver’s licence verification, live face capture and live identification capture.
Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Olubowale Obayomi told Disrupt Africa the familiar processes used over the internet in terms of KYC were flawed and had left room for fraudsters and cybercriminals to flourish.
“An online platform collects information from registering customers, so as to enable these customers to use the platform. The popular sign-up form is not developed to be able to filter false information from what is real,” he said.
“A fraudster could access an online business platform by supplying false names, fake identification cards and much more. The success of fraudsters on your platform could have a damaging impact on the business. Businesses have suffered financial and even personal losses due to KYC negligence.”
User uptake of JostJYC has been “encouraging”, Obayomi said, with the company having received numerous enquiries from businesses.
“We believe as soon as we finish developing plugins for CMS based platforms, user uptake will increase,” he said.
The startup is currently only operating in Nigeria, but has started making plans to offer its services to international organisations doing business with people living in Nigeria via their digital platforms. It has adopted a fee-for-service revenue model for JostKYC, allowing clients to pay per customer screened.
