Secure Payments in the hyper-connected world
It would be a rare day where I didn’t make some kind of payment. Whether it’s for the train trip this morning, that new gadget that made its way into my email, or a recurrent service bill, every day I’m participating in a trust arrangement that I have very little transparency into.
Every single time I make a payment I’m trusting:
1. The payment framework to ensure the payment goes to the place/person I specify, and the amount stays what I chose it to be.
2. The destination details are correct – whether it’s the BSB/Account/Swift codes I read off the bill (paper or digital), through to the assumption that the payment popup on any website is tied to that website.
When Willie Sutton was questioned by the police back in 1933 as to why he robbed banks – his now infamous reply was “Because that’s where the money is.” Theft and fraud are still dominantly motivated by financial reward, and in today’s society of digital-first, the current status quo is to blindly trust the requestor and the framework. This is why payment and invoice fraud is a major global issue.
We believe the solution to this problem is to create digital relationships that can validate all participants every time a transaction occurs, where the key data needed to ensure payment is true and correct – but is verifiable by all, and the framework. This simple sounding approach removes the ability and opportunity for anyone to manipulate a transaction, modify its details, or re-route without being detected before the transaction happening whilst providing a framework for enabling privacy.
From a human perspective, it’s about trust and empowerment. Under this approach when I go to pay my power bill (for example), I can confirm that the amount and the receiver match my expectations before I finalise the payment, giving me an opportunity to say “no” before my money goes the wrong way.
The benefits of this approach include protecting the buyer and the seller from imposters and converting the current status quo into a preventative trust but verify approach.