Gone are the days of laboriously scanning apassport or driver license, saving it to your computer, emailing it off to aBitcoin exchange, and waiting (as long as it takes) for your identity to beconfirmed to go ahead with your trade. Swedish Bitcoin exchange Safello is nowmaking good use of computer vision technology to streamline identityverification for its customers in Sweden and across the rest of Europe, makingthe purchase of Bitcoin as easy as possible for users.
Safello recently integrated the services ofAmerican payments company Jumio into its payment processing system. Jumio, according to its website,is “a next-generation payments and ID software-as-a-service” company thatutilizes proprietary computer vision technology to reduce mobile paymentfriction and ID fraud.”
Sound complicated? Simply put, Jumio has agroovy mobile phone app. When you want to scan an ID (a passport, identitydocument, or drivers license), you hold it up to your phone camera. The appscans the ID, extracts the information on it, and feeds the data into your newaccount form. Presto!
Jumio also operates the Bitcoin IdentitySecurity Integration Network (BISON), which shares information about fraud andidentity theft trends among its users.
How are the Swedes at Safello so visionary?“In Sweden we introduced Mobile Bank ID earlier this year as a verificationmethod. It significantly improved the conversion rate and our customers lovedit,” Safello compliance officer Sara Lindqvist toldArcticstartup.com. “We set out to find an equally reliable and compliantsolution for the rest of Europe and found Jumio fit all of our requirements.”
Mobile Bank ID is Sweden’s biggestelectronic ID system, which Swedes use for everything from e-banking to taxdeclarations.
The streamlined ID process isn’tthe only way Safello is making life easier for Bitcoin users. The companyalso started using the instant SOFORT payment system earlier this year, whichdoes immediate payments and means that international clients don’t need to waitfor bank transfers to be cleared before completing a transaction.
With super-fast identity verification,instant payments, and a website in seven languages, Safello is riding thecutting edge of the Bitcoin trading market.
As their website puts it, “We understand that time is money.”