Sedicii is one of just three start-ups handpicked from over 500 European companies by Spain's largest domestic lender CaixaBank to work with it to make its customer onboarding process fully digital.
The Waterford-based company has developed technology which enables real-time identity verification by certified, trusted identity providers.
Its “zero knowledge proof” protocol authenticates individuals and businesses without the need to widely transmit private information online or to store it on servers .This significantly reduces the risk of identity theft and other fraud, a serious concern for consumers and corporates alike.
Registration
CaixaBank has selected Sedicii to help speed up the registration process for businesses that want to become customers.
The partnership comes after the lender signed up to a European Innovation Council’s programme aimed at encouraging corporates to work with start-ups on joint projects. Italian start-up You are my Guide and Catalonia’s Verbio are also working with CaixaBank as part of the same initiative.
Sedicii chief executive Rob Leslie said he was delighted to see the company partner with CaixaBank and said it was a ringing endorsement of the company's technology.
“We have been working on this for a number of years but this is the first Tier One bank that we’ve secured as a partner and they are as excited about working with us as we are with them,” he told The Irish Times.
“We’ve already seen what started as one project morphing into three different parts of the bank so we’re looking at corporate banking and credit cards but also in specialist areas such as escrow services. Some of these are niche products but they could each in their own right turn into something big” he added.
Founded by Mr Leslie, who also previously established Kyckr, a compliance company that listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) nearly five years ago, Sedicci was previously named as one of the World Economic Forum's most promising technology pioneers.
Mr Leslie said the partnership marked a turning point for Sedicci, which he said has trod a fine line in trying to stay afloat while trying to secure large corporates, many of whom are somewhat wary of working with start-ups. He said working with CaixaBank would serve as a strong refence when approaching other businesses, as has its work with the likes of Deloitte.
Institutions
“We’ve spent a long time having to deal with what I call ‘innovation theatre,’ which is where a lot of big institutions make a big song and dance about working with companies like ours. This is all great marketing for them but doesn’t necessarily turn into contracts so it is great to see us moving past this,” he said.
Barcelona-based CaixaBank became Spain’s largest domestic lender after buying rival Bankia earlier this year in a €4.3 billion deal. The combined entity has more than €650 billion in assets.
Mr Leslie said Sedicii, which intends to seek up to €5 million in outside investment later this year, could become a major fintech player.
“This might sound arrogant but I think the technology we’ve created has the potential to lead us to $1 billion valuation territory. Why? Because it allows organisations to verify information without needing all of an individual or company’s data, thereby significantly lowering the risks all round,” he said.
