Affinidi and FilPass sign MOU to mitigate risk of fraudulent identification claims in PHL

Affinidi, a decentralised identity solutions provider founded by global investment company Temasek, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Filipino company FilPass to jointly establish and issue verifiable credentials (“VCs”) in the Philippines.

This collaboration aims to make it easier for individuals to transact with businesses online by leveraging cryptography and decentralised technologies to issue, verify, and authenticate identities and credentials.

Under the MOU, Affinidi will provide its expertise in digital credentialing through its mobile app and digital wallet Ceal, where users will be able to promptly receive their VCs and store them securely on their mobile phones.

Users can also build and manage their digital identity on the Ceal platform and control what information they would like to share with others and when to share it.

Likewise, FilPass will bring its capabilities in issuing and verifying credentials and fraud detection through blockchain, enabling faster and safer online transactions.

The MOU was inked against the backdrop of the pandemic normalising exchange of information digitally. According to a study conducted by ResumeLab, an alarming 93% of people know someone who has lied on their resumes.

The collaboration between FilPass and Affinidi enables organisations to access and verify credentials of their job applicants easily. As VCs can be verified digitally, as opposed to manually checking hard copy documents and certificates, this reduces the need for companies to contact users to verify individual credentials.

Users are given control over their VCs and digital identity, including the ability to choose what, when, and with whom they share their VCs. Once they have claimed their VCs on their Affinidi’s proprietary Ceal Wallet, users can then access its services marketplace by using their VCs to apply for jobs and more.

“This is an important collaboration empowering the entire talent acquisition ecosystem,” said Varsha Jagdale, General Manager of Financial Services in Affinidi. “Verifiable credentials enable employers to trust the information shared by applicants, while reducing the time and cost for verification. Candidate experience is tremendously improved as they get autonomy and do not have to gather information from different sources and share that with employers. We are excited to begin this journey with FilPass to bring disruptive innovation to the Philippines workforce.”

“This collaboration with Affinidi is timely as FilPass gains its momentum onboarding clients from both private and public sectors in the Philippines. With the recovering economy, more jobs will be available locally and abroad which allows FilPass end users to apply for them via Ceal,” said Ryan Soh, Founder and Chief Executive of FilPass. “FilPass is also preparing to close our Pre-Series A funding round as we accelerate our growth locally and gear up for regional expansion.