Indonesian verification platform for fintech set to graduate from Y Combinator

In the past, online stores and marketplaces were forced to partner with several payment providers in order to offer different payment options. Then came payment gateways, which gave businesses a solution that merged various payment application programming interfaces (APIs) into a single platform.

Fintech firms and digital banks currently face similar challenges but in the verification process. These businesses have to team up with APIs from different partners to smoothen out the customer onboarding journey, including phone number verification, fraud detection, and financial record checking.

Verihubs, an Indonesia-based startup, is looking to ease that pain by becoming a “verification gateway” for financial companies.

Verihubs’ founder Williem (left) and Rick Firnando / Photo credit: Verihubs

Verihubs was founded in 2019 by Rick Firnando, who has over 10 years experience in business-to-business industries, and Williem, who has a doctorate in AI and computer science. The company builds digital infrastructure and provides a range of services such as face and text recognition, WhatsApp and SMS authentication, identity verification, and financial data access for financial firms. The service shares similar features with US-based fintech unicorn Plaid.

Verhihubs currently serves more than 45 clients, half of whom belong to the financial sector. Fintech startup Payfazz, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Bank of Central Asia (BCA) are some of the firms that use Verihubs’ service.

Earlier this year, the Indonesian startup was admitted to Y Combinator’s summer 2021 batch and will join its demo day later this month. In 2019, Verihubs received an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Number Capital and Xfers founder Tianwei Liu. A year later, it joined Telkom Indonesia’s Indigo incubator where the startup received additional funding.

Inspired by a sister’s bad experience

Firnando says that the inspiration to build Verihubs struck when his sister’s identification card was misused for unauthorized loans. He said his family struggled immensely to solve the issue at the time. “It made me realize that there is a problem in the verification process, especially in financial services,” he told Tech in Asia.

He then met Williem, who was a lecturer at a university, and the duo decided to join forces and establish a startup together.

Verihubs has connected with several partners to consolidate important data, such as ID numbers, criminal records, and financial documentation. Partner firms can use the data gathered to onboard users quicker and more securely. Clients can also get a complete profile of potential users, which allows them to tailor solutions and offerings to individual customers.

According to Firnando, attending Y Combinator helped them get more knowledge and gain recognition as a legitimate firm, which is a major goal for B2B startups. Previously, Verihubs also joined BCA’s Synrgy program, which saw the bank come on board as a client.