VW Financial Services (VWFS) is using digital identity solution Onfido and blockchain-verified e-signature solution Scrive for its latest digital financing solution in the UK.
VWFS provides financing, leasing and insurance services, and customers can now use the solutions from the two startups when they make a credit application, whether in person or remotely. With the Onfido solution verifying your identity typically involves taking a copy of your id and a selfie, and Onfido compares the two with facial recognition.
“The response from our dealers is very positive: a clear, easy to follow process that streamlines the purchase experience and expedites the payout time,” said Titus Ackah-Sanzah, Product Owner at VWFS UK.
Scrive uses conventional e-signatures, which use handwriting rather than cryptographic signatures. Where blockchain comes into play is making it tamperproof. The e-signature uses Guardtime’s KSI blockchain and takes a cryptographic hash of the contract, like a fingerprint and stores it on the blockchain. As an enterprise blockchain, Guardtime takes the unusual step of publishing a hash of the entire chain every month in the Financial Times. Because blocks are linked, if one block is altered, it can be detected.
“Scrive and Onfido enable a fast, compliant and error-free financing process while providing a first-class customer experience for car buyers,” said Scrive CEO Viktor Wrede. “This joint solution with Volkswagen Financial Services UK leverages Scrive’s substantial penetration in the automotive sector.”
Other automotive clients include Avis, Volvo and Scania, part of the Volkswagen group. But it has clients in additional sectors such as telecoms firms Telia and Telenor.
VW Financial Services uses blockchain solution for digital contractsMeanwhile, to date, Volkswagen’s blockchain activities have primarily involved sourcing minerals sustainably. Back in 2019, it partnered with startup Minespider for lead traceability. Around the same time, it also joined the IBM Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network to trace cobalt. More recently, it became an advisor to the CERA Association, a blockchain-based certification system for the mining industry.