Building for Emerging Mkts
“So why does this matter in emerging markets?”
As we’re building Smile Identity, I am often asked why we focus on markets outside the United States when identity and security are now such big topics in the U.S.
The answer is both personal — at Khosla Impact I saw first-hand the challenges companies around the world faced trying to effectively establish a user’s identity — and practical — at Smile Identity we’re interested in supporting banks, lenders and telecoms that have fewer available tools to rely on when doing “know your customer” (KYC) due diligence.
In markets like Tanzania, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines, credit bureaus are still relatively new, social security numbers and national IDs are not ubiquitous and background checks often require personal calls or visits.
Just because our markets are emerging doesn’t mean they aren’t important.
The rapid growth in low-cost smartphones in Africa and Asia means that over the next 10 years an entire generation will end up transacting in mobile environments without ever using a desktop machine.
As Mary Meeker pointed out last year, Nigeria, India and South Africa lead the world in mobile-first / mobile-only Internet adoption.
This is why we’re building a team with deep personal experience across mobile and emerging markets.
Learn more about our team and our products at smileidentity.com and sign up for a free developer account.
