Identity Matters: Here's How UAE-Based Uqudo Is Pioneering A Shift In Digital Identity Verification Processes Across The MENA Uqudo founder and CEO Mohamed Fagiri believes that his enterprise can play a key role in building a more inclusive and equitable society.

In December 2022, the Sultanate of Oman created history by becoming the first Arab nation to hold a fully digital municipal election. The country's Ministry of Interior later revealed that a total of 288,469 voters had made this possible by casting online votes. But at the heart of ensuring the success of this one-of-a-kind electoral process was a three-year-old startup: Uqudo, a UAE-based digital identity verification platform.

"The entire voting process was digitized, from voter registration to selecting representatives," Mohamed Fagiri, founder and CEO of Uqudo, says. "Citizens could cast their votes electronically, without having to leave their homes or offices to go to physical polling stations, which often have long queues. Voting electronically made the process more convenient and faster as they were able to enroll, register, and vote in under three minutes. It also reduced the chances of errors and ensured that the results were more accurate."

It is perhaps not surprising to learn that Fagiri rates the Omani online voting endeavor as his enterprise's biggest achievement yet. But given the startup's roots, Uqudo's participation in such an event was not an unexpected move either. "Founded by a team of identity experts, Uqudo has a long heritage of working with governments and regulators in delivering large-scale, national identity programs," Fagiri explains. "As a natural progression of these successes, Uqudo began providing its technology and solutions to banks, telcos, insurance companies, fintechs, startups and more. As one of the most innovative digital identity companies in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, our mission at Uqudo is to bring trust and transparency in an increasingly digital world by building an identity layer."

Launched in 2020, Uqudo is legally incorporated in the UAE, United Kingdom, as well as Rwanda, with the firm's digital identity product primarily catering to the MEA region. The startup thus offers solutions catering to digital identity verification, know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) for a plethora of industries. "Our digital identity platform enables users to experience a fast, secure and frictionless onboarding process whilst protecting the organization from fraudulent activities and simultaneously ensuring the organizations are fully compliant with KYC, AML, and customer due diligence (CDD) regulations," Fagiri explains. "Uqudo's ability to verify identities not only in the countries customers operate in, but also in those they are planning to expand to in the near future, makes us the de-facto option for digital identity. Our award-winning tech platform thus pushes innovation in the world of identity, driving digital transformation on a global scale, and we believe that our identity platform will play a key role in building a more inclusive and equitable society."

Source: Uqudo

Built as a software development kit, Uqudo's main strength lies in its ability to be seamlessly integrated into any existing entity's database. "Our product has four core pillars: KYC; sanctions: AML and screening; know your business (KYB), and biometric authentication," Fagiri adds. "These, combined with advanced digital identity technology including biometrics, certified three dimensional (3D) liveness detection, near-field communication (NFC)-based passport reading, cognitive document analysis, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, enable our users to experience an easy onboarding process. Fully supported across MEA, our product is suited for fintech companies, banks, cryptos, telcos, insurance, and government entities."

When it comes to Uqudo's KYC and KYB verticals, this software-as-a-service platform offers tools such as authenticating and extracting data from official identification (ID) documents using AI, as well as verifying a given customer's face in mere seconds. "In fact, our primary revenue stream is a SaaS-based eKYC model that involves direct selling and selling through partners," Fagiri reveals. Meanwhile, within the Screening pillar, Uqudo enables companies to check for client suitability and risk by checking their backgrounds against a list of over 1.7 million politically exposed persons (individuals highly involved in money laundering and other questionable financing). Companies can also screen customers against an extensive library of adverse media (a type of CDD that scans global media sources for evidence of a customer's involvement in fraudulent or criminal activity). Finally, using Uqudo's biometric authentication offerings, companies can optimize user experience by using digital IDs -such as selfies- to eliminate fraud due to weak, stolen or misused passwords.

But with the rampant digitization of global business sectors in recent years, it isn't unusual for companies to already have digital identity verification checks in place. What, then, sets Uqudo apart from its competitors? "Our differentiating factor lies in our coverage and capabilities across the MEA region, which allows us to verify identities that no other competitor can," Fagiri replies. "Uqudo's solution leverages ID scanning/government-issued ID verification along with face, fingerprint, and voice recognition, which lets individuals without ID access services through biometric registration. We have global coverage of passports and can verify more identities in the MEA region than any other competitor via NFC or civilian registries. We have an extensive biometrics toolkit, enabling the highest levels of accuracy for the MEA region, and can use alternative biometrics where formal identity cards are not available. Our clients are only charged for successful onboarding, making our platform truly cost-effective and giving us a unique commercial model."

Uqudo's attention to detail has already earned the startup multiple recognitions and awards, with the most recent of these being its win of the Best KYC Solution title at the Leaders in Fintech Awards 2023, staged by Entrepreneur Middle East. "From building one of the GCC's largest national identity assurance programs to enabling the opening of the first digital bank in Rwanda, we have actually had several achievements in the past year," Fagiri adds.

Uqudo CEO Mohamed Fagiri and COO Tom Green receiving "The Best KYC Solution" at the Leaders in Fintech Awards 2023 staged by Entrepreneur Middle East. Source: Entrepreneur Middle East

But in an astute observation of the business ecosystem, Fagiri notes that although digital identification services such as Uqudo's have been in use for a long time, it was the coronavirus pandemic that unraveled many latent inefficiencies within this space. That, in turn, led to a wider adoption of digital methods- a shift that invariably favored Uqudo's mission.

"Digital identity solutions that include biometric authentication -such as facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and voice recognition- have gained prominence [since the pandemic]," Fagiri adds. "Moreover, with greater digital transactions, companies across industries have realized the importance of robust identity systems that can prevent identity theft and fraud. Individual customers have also realized the importance of data privacy, demanding greater control over their personal data."

Fagiri's final comment here is one that is extremely timely. With many customers still dubious about the digital collection of personal data, there remains a question mark over the security offered by technologies such as biometrics and AI. When asked to share his thoughts on the matter, however, Fagiri doesn't offer an outright dismissal of such qualms. Instead, he answers from a place of empathy. "With Uqudo dealing with confidential information on a day-to-day basis, we understand the concerns people have about data sharing using technologies such as biometrics and AI," Fagiri says. "Since identity verification requires collecting personal data, individuals tend to have questions about their information being used for malicious purposes. However, we believe that the benefits of these technologies, when used in the right manner, outweigh the risks. At Uqudo, our proprietary technology not only protects individuals from fraud and identity theft but makes it easier for people to access products and services."

Related: The Overheated Debate Around Biometrics

Source: Uqudo

In fact, this particular aspect of Uqudo's approach aligns neatly with one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "SDG 16.9 is about providing legal identity for all, and so our data governance practices strictly comply with regulatory requirements," Fagiri says. "Our identity platform has been developed in a manner where the user is in complete control of their data. We use advanced encryption and security measures to protect confidential information, which reduces the risk of unauthorized access. Along with this, we ensure that individuals using our platform truly understand how our technology works, and how their personal data is being used. This has helped us build a trustworthy digital ecosystem that balances data privacy and security."

With the startup having already achieved certain milestones during its first three years, Fagiri reveals that the path for the next three has been mapped out already. "Our goal in the next three years is to expand and dominate identity verification in the EMEA region, with a high-powered digital identity platform," he declares. "We aim to achieve this goal with a four-pronged approach. The first is horizontal expansion, wherein we will expand our coverage and capabilities across EMEA, with our next focus on the global market. The second is vertical expansion, through which we will increase the depth of our identity verification services across the KYC, KYB, screening, and authentication pillars. Next is innovation. At Uqudo, innovation and thinking outside of the box are central to our core values. We are currently exploring numerous initiatives at the forefront of the identity space including biometric ID, digital identity wallets, and blockchain-focused identity solutions. And finally, we aim to scale our growth engine by combining multiple acquisition channels and conversion mechanisms to create a system of power growth."

At the very center of all these plans, however, lies a very simple mission. "Our most important target for the future is to be 'the' identity company in the region, and for it to be natural for every growing or established company in EMEA to choose uqudo as its identity layer," Fagiri concludes.