Payfone Announces Major Milestones: Zero-Knowledge Privacy 'Safe Haven' and Expanded U.S. Coverage

NEW YORK, March 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Payfone, the world's leading digital identity authentication network dedicated to bringing Trust to the digital world based on their consumer-first Bill of Trust, announces that it has expanded its digital identity verification coverage to 90% of U.S. adults for all active mobile, fixed and non-fixed VoIP and landlines.* Additionally, Payfone is extending its Zero-Knowledge architecture, a privacy safe haven first introduced in 2015, to now include Authoritative Identity Verification partners, such as mobile network operators and financial institutions.

These two milestones represent major developments in the identity authentication leader's strategy to harmonize trust, privacy and consumer experience in the digital world, and extend these benefits across the United States. This expanded reach means that Payfone can extend its KYC/AML identity verification and fraud prevention solutions to even more people, which is critical as more and more consumers rely on mobile devices as their primary form of interacting with businesses and each other.

"Over the past few years, Payfone's commitment to fraud prevention has led us to focus on bringing these benefits to all individuals in the U.S., including the underbanked. Digital KYC and AML services need to be available to all, including those with pre-paid phones, those who are on family plans, and even those with small business and corporate phones," said Rodger Desai, CEO and Co-Founder of Payfone. "As we continue the journey in 2019, we plan to expand our reach by adding coverage for lifeline phones, hybrid WiFi-Cellular plans, as well as eSIM." 

In addition to expanding coverage, the sharing of Payfone's Zero-Knowledge architecture raises the bar for consumer data privacy for the entire industry. Zero-Knowledge architecture enables a Relying Party to verify a claim, such as age, through Payfone without personal information being passed back, stored, or aggregated.

"We have been using Zero-Knowledge for our customers (Relying Parties) since 2015," explained Desai. "Now we are extending our Zero-Knowledge architecture to Service Providers and Authoritative Identity Verification partners to accelerate the modernization of the industry's ecosystem. Thwarting fraud does not need to come at the expense of data privacy."

"The telecom industry and American public are currently plagued by robocalls, SS7 attacks, SIM swap scams and porting fraud," said Michelle Wheeler, Payfone SVP of Industry Relations and CTIA board member. "Solutions like this, which allow consumers to participate in the digital economy without fear of getting scammed or worrying about their data privacy being compromised, are welcomed news for the industry."

For more information, see the interview between Payfone CEO Rodger Desai and David Birch of Consult Hyperion about the impact of Zero-Knowledge on consumer data privacy. We also invite you to join us on March 14 at 1pm ET for a webinar on how to put privacy first with Zero-Knowledge architecture.

*Based on independent third-party data studies with Fortune 500 companies in the fields of Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance and Retail.

About Payfone

Payfone's mission is to bring Trust to the digital world and enable enterprises and their customers to enjoy experiences that are fast, frictionless and fraud-free. Payfone's award-winning Trust Platformtm and Trust Scoretm give enterprises the power to give their customers safer and better digital experiences by issuing real-time Trust Scores. Our zero-knowledge Trust Platformtm orchestrates the verification of identity claims with an ecosystem of authoritative partners within a privacy-first framework. Payfone provides digital authentication services for 6 of the top 10 financial institutions, and leading healthcare, insurance, technology and retail companies. Learn more at payfone.com and linkedin.com/company/payfone. 

Press Contact:
Yuka Yoneda
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212.614.6927

SOURCE Payfone