Digital identity is just starting to take shape in India: Syntizen

Business-to-business (B2B) digital identity-centric product company Syntizen Technologies Pvt Ltd, is working on technologies like facial matching and liveness detection. Through its variety of products, it is helping organizations/governments identify people before they offer any kind of service/subsidy. Siddharth Kukatlapalli, co-founder and CBO, Syntizen, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz said: "Digital identity is just starting to take shape and Aadhaar has laid a big foundation for digital identity in India."

What are the future trends in the digital identity solutions space?

We believe digital identity is just starting to take shape and Aadhaar has laid a big foundation for digital identity in India. Syntizen is working on new technologies like facial matching and liveness detection. These technologies can help the citizens to offer services sitting at home and make the entire journey digital. For example, we have offered facial liveness technology to Telangana government where for the transport department, over 30 services are automated. The citizen can avail a service by capturing a selfie, selecting the required service, upload relevant documents and by completing the payment. Our R&D team is also trying their best to identify more solutions in the identity domain which can make lives easier for both organizations and goverments.

Tell us something about Syntizen?

Syntizen is a digital identity startup founded in 2014. Through our variety of products, we help organizations/governments identify people before they offer any kind of service/subsidy. Some of our products include e-COS (electronic customer on-boarding system), video KYC, Aadhaar masking, subsidy management system, etc. We are currently working with five State governments (Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha) and have over 25 clients in the BFSI sector (DCB Bank, DBS Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, Shriram Group, SBI General Life Insurance, etc). Our digital identity engines perform about five-six million transactions on a daily basis for all our clients put together.

When and how did you come up with the idea to start Syntizen?

The concept of matching fingerprint was one of the projects taken up by us during our engineering days. Keeping that as a base, we wanted to develop a product that can match and instantly identify a person. The idea of Aadhaar and its biometric data excited us to evaluate further and hence we got the idea to develop our product. Once the idea was there, we presented the same to Muthoot Fincorp, which is our first client for digital identification. The idea slowly grew into a big problem-solving tool (The solution helped save lot of time and money) for multiple organizations and later we explored the possibility of offering such solutions to the governments.

What has been the biggest challenge for you till now?

Initially we believe scaling up was the biggest challenge. While we started, we had a dream to clock one lakh transactions per day, we were scared on how our engines would handle an increasing load. However, the technology team, headed by my Co-founder Vamsi, was ready for the challenge. The systems are vertically and horizontally scalable and we are now handling about five to six million hits per day without any problem. The system is now ready to handle any volumes and this is also one of our main USP's.

Apart from scaling up, we had initial problems in getting a team with the expertise on biometrics with Aadhaar expertise. However, we now have one of the best teams with the Aadhaar knowledge and their compliances/guidelines.

What is the USP of the brand?

Syntizen is a one stop solution for all the digital identity needs of an organization. We offer multiple solutions that help solve important processes for an organization by making them 100 per cent digital. Apart from being a one stop solution, we ensure that our solutions are 100 per cent compliant and secure. Our solutions have been audited by the best firms for various clients of ours. Apart from the above, we have a scalable system which is the need of the hour.

Who is your target audience? And how do you plan to reach them?

Currently, we are targeting the BFSI sector and State governments in India. With a positive word of mouth we are getting referred to by our existing clients. However, we are making efforts to reach out to BFSI through various social media and other marketing channels.

What was your inspiration behind this venture?

The inspiration behind us starting the company was very simple - we didn't want to be like the majority but wanted to be our own bosses. With this intention, we started the organization and it took real hard work to get to where we are today. We are also grateful for the continuous support we have received from our family members and closest of friends to keep continuing what we wanted to do and helping us in achieving our goals.

What has been the biggest achievement till now?

I would say there are a few milestones that we have achieved so far. One of the most important milestones in our journey was getting funded by MasterCard. Being recognized as a NASSCOM Emerge 50 startup in 2020 was another. On the technology front, we carried out about 7.5 million transactions on a single day and that was also a significant achievement for us.

Syntizen's Aadhaar services are being utilized by whom?

Our Aadhaar services are being used by BFSI and governments. In the governments, our services are being used by Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh State governments. In the BFSI domain, we have DCB Bank, Fincare Small Finance Bank, Muthoot Fincorp, Manappuram Finance, Shriram Group, SBI General Life Insurance, Aviva Life Insurance, Indiashelters Housing Finance, SE Investments (Paisa Lo), Angel Broking, etc.

How many transactions Syntizen do per day using their Aadhaar services?

We clock about 5-6 million transactions per day on an average for all our clients put together.

What is the role and significance of brands like Syntizen in the industry?

Being a startup, we believe in offering technology-based solutions that can disrupt the existing process by ensuring 100 per cent security and compliance. We also believe in solving small problems that create big business impacts.