How can technology help increase access to public services and products by making use of the trusted relationships people already have?

Vouchsafe

The solution

Vouchsafe is a general-purpose identity verification toolkit that works for the 1 in 5 people who struggle to pass traditional ID checks.

Users confirm who they are using people they trust. They don’t need to rely on old-fashioned, expensive paper documents. It works even if the user has a thin or non-existent credit file. It’s cheaper, faster and it reduces the risk of fraud.

Vouchsafe lets you put your passport and driving licence back in the drawer where they belong.

The Opportunity

Identity verification is everywhere. Nearly every company, charity and public sector body needs to do it, often as part of onboarding checks for new users, customers, employees or volunteers. Vouchsafe will let you onboard the 1 in 5 who are shut out by traditional ID verification tools. That's 20% more customers!

Next Steps

Over the next few months we'll be onboarding our first carefully-chosen customers and handling real verifications for them, including ScotAccount.

The Team

Our interdisciplinary team is led by Chloe and Jaye; two former civil servants with a track record of making rapid, tangible change on problems others see as intractable. Jaye was the principal designer behind the NHS coronavirus contact tracing app, which is now believed to have saved around 10,000 lives during the pandemic. Chloe is the reason it's now possible to claim Universal Credit without a fixed address.