Vouchsafe wins FCA Financial Inclusion TechSprint Award
Chloe Coleman
Vouchsafe is proud to announce that we have won the ‘Jump Solution’ award at the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Financial Inclusion TechSprint 2024.
This recognition highlights the potential of our identity verification platform to provide the “biggest leap forward” in enabling people to access essential financial services.
The FCA TechSprint brought together 12 teams to tackle some of the most pressing issues around financial inclusion.
Our challenge focused on increasing the probability of consumers being accepted for basic financial products, such as bank accounts, credit, and insurance.
Vouchsafe’s winning solution uses biometric vouching—a new technique that allows users without traditional forms of ID to safely nominate someone they trust to verify their identity.
“There are 11 million people in the UK without a passport or driving licence, and many of them struggle to pass traditional identity checks,” explained our researcher Nandita Rath.
“Vouchsafe changes this by harnessing the power of trusted relationships, making financial services more accessible to everyone.”
At the TechSprint Demo Day in Glasgow, we presented how Vouchsafe allows referees to confirm a user’s identity by providing a photo ID and answering a few key questions. This simple, secure process ensures that people can prove who they are without relying on expensive and hard-to-access documents.
Winning the ‘Jump Solution’ category reinforces our belief that vouching can bridge the gap for those excluded by traditional verification methods. As we continue to develop Vouchsafe, we look forward to collaborating with financial services firms to integrate vouching into their KYC processes, boosting accessibility and reducing barriers.
We’re grateful to the FCA, FinTech Scotland, and the judging panel for recognising the impact of our work. This award represents an exciting step forward in our mission to make financial services inclusive for all.
