« Whether or not we like it, the bad guys are still a part of the system, and they will continue to be a part of the security ecosystem, where they will attempt to contaminate what we do. »
This interview captures the conversation Business Insider had with the CEO of Identitypass, Lanre Ogungbe, to get some insight into how Identitypass is dealing with cyber threats in Africa. The interview also contains details on how Identitypass is impacting the Nigerian economy as a whole.
Q: How would you describe Identitypass to the average Nigerian unfamiliar with the looming threat of cyber security?
The services provided by IdentityPass assist millions of individuals in lowering their risk of having their personal information misused by a third party in a fraudulent manner, without their permission. For instance, there are times when people try to use even their parent’s or spouse’s credentials for some unauthorized activity, such as taking out loans without the person being aware of it or something even worse, such as someone else’s item being stolen while they are in traffic, and attempts are made by fraudulent persons to use their details to steal from them. Other times, people try to use their credentials for some unauthorized activity, such as taking out loans without the person being aware of it. Some people have been informed that their identities have been used to take out a loan without their knowledge, and they have been required to clear it out or use it for other fraudulent means. This is a common occurrence, and it has happened to a lot of people.
For companies, this means that we are ensuring that they are not conducting business with criminals, that they are not enforcing the wrong individuals, and that their businesses are safe because of now knowing who their customers are and being able to confirm this information.
We are going to start getting more involved in monitoring transactions in the financial sector right now. How people communicate with one another, conduct business with one another, and ensure that they are using the correct identities; we are doing this across borders.
Q: What inspired the creation of Identitypass?
I opened the wrong app when I tried to make a purchase about two years ago. After a while of being irritated by this, I reasoned, « Hey, why can’t I use my biometrics to make the correct payment? » So, we built it, and when it came time to deploy it to a couple of stores, we realized we needed to do verification, and we realized we needed to do verification in a way that would implant that before deployment. So, we contacted a few people in the industry and asked, « Hey, how do you guys do your verification? » and discovered that there was a significant amount of complication in the system that was preventing us from achieving the desired results. As a result, we began to develop a verification engine, and we simply stated, « Rather than launching a payment solution, why don’t we launch a verification solution? » This resulted in the creation of our current verification solution. That was because a sizeable number of people in the market truly needed it.
Q: What is the ethos of your company?
The first tenet of our company’s ethos is Integrity. When we commit to doing something, we make it a point to follow through on our word and get it done. Everything we do as a group and a business is guided by our commitment to doing the right thing for our customers, employees, and the law. Because we put in the effort and get the job done correctly, this accomplishment means a great deal to us.
Transparency and trust will follow. Our technology provides users and businesses with transparency when it comes to the handling of their data, and our processes also reflect this. We make it a priority to guarantee that our systems as well as the manner we operate our business also reflect this.
Lastly, we are a company that has a strong belief in the importance of investing in our team.
Q: What gap does Identitypass fill in the digital ecosystem in Nigeria?
Within the ecosystem, we primarily bridge the gap regarding the simplicity of onboarding.
Second, we contribute to ensuring and filling the significant access to digital services gap that exists today. This indicates that individuals in Kaduna, as well as those in Ebonyi and Nnewi, now have easier access to the financial services that are available to them. Now, unlike in the past, businesses in the United Kingdom and the United States can verify identities and provide access to services. This allows them to conduct business with people who live in Badagary, which was previously impossible. That is an extremely significant and important aspect of what we do. People are now able to use these facilities because we are now able to verify their credit history, we can make their details now available to those that are giving the credits, and we can confirm that yes, these guys are real.
The elimination of dishonest and malicious actors from the system is yet another critical void that we are helping to fill. Whether or not we like it, the bad guys are still a part of the system, and they will continue to be a part of the security ecosystem, where they will attempt to contaminate what we do. Because of our presence, the number of dishonest competitors in the industry is decreasing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for these competitors to obtain legal goods and services.
To summarise, we make it simple for many digital businesses from various ecosystems to quickly provide their services and products. As a result, people can easily expand to other countries without much difficulty, and we have a lot of businesses looking to expand as quickly as possible across Africa’s Sub-Saharan region. We are taking on the compliance burden that so many digital services have. Today, numerous companies will be able to provide specific products and services because of the compliance requirements that we are powering and ensuring that they are still alive and well.
Q: What economic opportunities does the formation of Identitypass procure in the Nigerian tech space?
Employment opportunities would be ranked first. We currently have a total staff strength of forty people, which accounts for both permanent and contract employees. Second, due to the nature of the services that we offer and the fact that we have assisted a substantial number of companies in performing compliance checks and ensuring that they are complying and that they are working with the appropriate individuals, we are able to say that we have been successful. We are keeping them in business, and because of that, they can attract investments in. Without our products and services, they would have been servicing the wrong guys, and before you know it, the government regulators would have been on them, and they will be dead because they can shut them down.
Even though it is quite difficult to quantify in terms of an actual dollar sign, what that means, what we know is that many of our partners today can provide their products and services because we exist, and these products and services are a huge portion of their revenue, and so we are a critical path to the sustenance of their businesses.
Finally, because of our existence, we are sending some extraordinarily strong and positive signals to external players, letting them know that they can trust people from this part of the world because now we are able to do verification, which is one of the strongest indicators that investors or large corporations or even small copy tabs want to get before they enter an environment like Nigeria or the environment of certain other countries.
Q: What is the current reach of Identitypass, regional, national, continental, or global, and how far do you plan for the tech to scale?
Today, we are a continental organization because we provide services and can cover multiple countries at the same time right now. Additionally, the solutions that we have developed, such as the biometrics technology and all that, cut across multiple data points across Africa. In addition, the operation of our business enables us to serve many businesses located off the continent that have the goal of providing digital services to people in other parts of the world. Therefore, I would say that we are both continental and global in scope. Because of the way that we conduct business, we work with many partners who are in other parts of the world. These partners want to bring their products or services to this part of the globe. We are providing and developing a technology that can be utilized in any region of the world. In terms of how it is constructed and how it interacts with all the products and services that are offered in other regions of the world, how does this technology work? To answer your question, the answer is yes; the development of our technology is being geared toward conforming to global world standards.
We meet all the requirements set forth by the relevant ISOs and sock-type tools, which are international compliance standards based on our operations. We have begun developing this product with a focus on the entire world in mind.
Q: What are some major milestones the company has attained?
As a company, we have provided our services to approximately 500 businesses across a variety of industries. Every month, we have been able to successfully process three million unique verifications. We were able to rapidly expand within two years while remaining completely remote. We have also been successful in expanding our operations to other countries in Africa, and we are now able to offer our clients services that are applicable in several different countries and comply with the regulatory standards of several different regions, including receiving certification from several different security audits.
Certain patents, including secure patents, which are essential to us have been acquired by us.
Finally, we have been able to keep our customers satisfied, this represents a major victory for us and is of utmost significance.
Q: What are the biggest challenges Identitypass has faced finding its way into the Nigerian market?
As a young company, the greatest obstacle we’ve faced has been the struggle to win customers’ confidence, build a name for ourselves in the market, and persuade companies that have been operating in this area for decades that they should use our products and services, as well as to put their faith in our management and our company.
Second, although the nature of the job that we do, which involves working very closely with regulators, can at times be extremely stressful, we are happy to continue doing it even though it does come with its own set of difficulties.
Finding the right people to fill open positions is yet another challenging task. Finding people with skills that are a perfect match for the way we run our business and the level of expansion we are working toward achieving and aiming for. Finding the right combination of people who are fully remote, located in different regions, and operating in different time zones to accomplish the task at hand can be challenging.
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