Online identity platform miiCard today announced two new initiatives in support of the growing U.S. consumer finance technology market and its associated regulatory concerns.
With the launch of DirectID, miiCard gives financial services providers an embedded, integrated identity and data verification solution that saves time and money while enabling high value transactions. The company also announced the opening of its St. Louis office and the appointment of industry veteran Peter Esparrago as President of North America.
DirectID allows businesses to offer a single-use sign-on that leverages a user's bank credentials and bureau data to prove their identity and verify transaction critical data. Using DirectID, businesses can eliminate fraud and replace more costly and time-intensive offline identity checks. DirectID can also be used to verify income or other information to more quickly underwrite borrower applications, complete affordability testing, or process other high value transactions completely online.
First customers of the new service include P2P lenders Landbay and eMoneyUnion.com. DirectID is available as a white label solution for customers.
"DirectID allows businesses to unlock the incredible potential of new consumer finance offerings by eliminating fraud, meeting complex new regulatory requirements, and saving time and money," said miiCard CEO James Varga. "With DirectID, businesses can instantly verify a customer's identity and access confirmed income, credit or other data approved for sharing by the customer. This all-in-one solution speeds up affordability testing and other components of high value online transactions and lending."
miiCard also appointed veteran technology and finance executive Peter Esparrago as its new President of North America and officially opened its St. Louis office, a location that provides access to one of the country's largest concentration of financial services companies outside of New York City. This increased commitment to the U.S. market enables miiCard to support emerging consumer finance businesses in the retail banking, mortgage and high-value lending industries with improved risk, affordability, compliance and fraud solutions.
Mr. Esparrago joins the team with over 25 years in global technology leadership roles across a range of industries including security and finance. He is a former Accenture Partner, and most recently the Co-Founder and General Partner of venture capital firm Cultivation Capital, a backer of the SixThirty fintech accelerator program of which miiCard was an inaugural selection in 2013. Mr. Esparrago will lead miiCard sales efforts for North America.
"I've spent the last 25 years developing, advising and investing in some of the most innovative financial and security products in the market, and all of them have shared the same limitations of time, cost, accuracy and security when confirming a user's identity online," said Esparrago. "miiCard provides a unique, integrated approach that puts the consumer first but addresses the core needs of a business. I am excited to join the team and help usher in a new era of trusted high value transactions purely online."