Kenya and Nigeria are the next target markets for Identy.oi, a global provider of digital identities, as it expands into Africa.
Facial, fingerprint, and palm identification are among the safe, mobile biometrics that the company specialises in.
According to Indenty.oi, its platform runs locally on smartphones, eliminating cloud storage while maintaining security and privacy.
It goes to say this is achieved by leveraging standard smartphones for fingerprint and face scans, the company aims to bridge the continent’s digital divide, where a significant number of adults still lack basic identification.
To spearhead this rollout, the firm has appointed a specialised regional leadership team, including industry veterans from Nigeria’s Bank Verification Number programme, to integrate their automated Biometric Identification System into national digital public infrastructure.
The company says the significance of this move lies in the departure from traditional, "clunky" biometric models.
Historically, digital ID enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa has been throttled by the high cost of specialised scanners and the logistical nightmare of deploying them to rural areas.
Indenty.oi notes that its approach shifts the heavy lifting to mobile software.
Identy.io is positioning itself to capture a market the World Bank's Identification for Development initiative identifies as critical for financial inclusion.
If successful, this could accelerate government-to-person payments and healthcare access in regions where coverage currently sits below 70%.
"We are transforming the traditional industry model, which often relies on expensive and inflexible digital infrastructure," says Antony Vendhan, Co-founder of Identy.io. "This allows our clients to reach underserved communities by providing individuals with multimodal access to secure their digital identities."
Identy.io enters a competitive but fragmented landscape.
The company will face established players like IDEMIA and Thales, who have long dominated government contracts.
Furthermore, Identy.io will face competition from up-and-coming regional fintech identity firms such as Smile ID, which already has a significant presence in Know Your Customer services throughout Africa.
To gain an edge, Identy.io has aligned itself with Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP).
By being listed on the MOSIP marketplace, the company says its tech becomes "plug-and-play" for governments building open-source national ID systems, a growing trend among nations wary of "vendor lock-in."
While the primary focus remains on Nigeria and Kenya, Identy.io’s long-term roadmap includes a phased rollout to other emerging markets.
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