WiPay brings business without banks

Doing financial transactions can be hard if you don't have a bank account. WiPay, a payment solution company, has introduced two new finance technology (fintech) services into the market that allows those who do not have a bank account to shop online and fill out know your customer forms with ease.

On November 14, WiPay had their WiDay at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain where they launched their the Rebel Visa Card and announced Republic Bank acquired a 19.99 per cent stake in Nobis Baas – a subsidiary of electronic payments group WiPay Holdings Ltd.

Shopping online used to be impossible without a credit card. To get a credit card, one needed to have a bank account. However, for years, WiPay has worked on bankless payment solutions. Aldwyn Wayne, CEO, acknowledged there were many "unbanked" and "under-banked" people in the country who needed financial inclusion so they created the Rebel Visa card.

To get the Rebel Visa Card a customer can go online and sign up. As soon as they are finished registering they can use it instantly, including shopping online. A person can request a physical card which will take a week to get, and spend at any point of sale machine that Visa is accepted.

For security, the Rebel card has no number in case it is stolen. A person can also use the app to change their card verification value (CVV) and pin. If the card is missing they can freeze it from their app account.

To put money on the card they can visit a WiPay location, and push payments allows people to send money from one Rebel card to another instantly. WiPay has also partnered with insurance company Guardian Group.

Ever wanted to sign up for a service but got told to provide two forms of ID, proof of address, a payslip and more? This information is called know your customer (KYC).

Sasha Thompson, COO of WiPay, introduced the Nobis digital identity platform which allows customers to walk around with all their verified KYC in an app.

"So what if, right here in sweet TT and the Caribbean, all of your KYC information existed in a single, digital identity, which could be captured error free using AI and ICR (intelligent character recognition) tech. ICR by the way is ahead of OCR (optical character recognition), is verified instantly, stored securely, shared intelligently and updated automatically all using cutting edge technology and digital security protocols that would prevent what we are all so worried about: unauthorised access, modification tampering or or loss?" Thomson said.

Nobis digital identity platform can be used for credit unions, insurance companies, investment financial managers, corporations, sales institutions, or any institution, to streamline and simplify customer information. The platform maintains this data in real time. It also alerts users of key document expiration dates well in advance.

"Our technology allows to actually build an accurate and holistic holistic individual profile...Each person has his or her information privately stored and has the ability to digitally share relevant information about themselves with authorised entities who requires that KYC data in order to transact whatever business. And when you sign up on our platform you're actually your digital ID and with that ID, you can share the specifically requested private information on demand," said Thompson.

All a person needs to do is scan their information such as the two forms of ID, proof of address, job letter, pay slip, take a selfie and their data is stored.

The digital ID gives every piece of information a unique identifier that won't change over time. It allows the owner of the data to take control and protect their identity and decide what to share with who and when.

"For this generation, face to face banking will be the exception, not the rule. The ability to mine disparate sources of data, to build up a picture of someone's identity will be increasingly important. Meeting somebody in person in the bank will no longer be a requirement for verifying their identity. This will be a greater move towards building an online profile of beyond their habits and their preferences, really understanding who you are."