Smile API is Empowering Users to Benefit from their Own Data
Digital transformation has ushered in a data-driven world. Data is being generated at a pace never seen before: about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data a day by some estimates. Most people don't realize it, but they're generating and sharing many of this data, often times about themselves, everywhere. They do it when they go to school, when apply for a job, when they buy something, when they transact at their bank, when they share a photo, watch a video, or play a game.
As this kind of data becomes ubiquitous, many businesses have started to reap the benefits: figuring out ways to be able to use this data for their benefit. For example, advertising companies have used this data to allow advertisers to target specific types of people based on their activities, interests or habits. However, it has become ironic that the the very people who generate and share lots of data rarely benefit from it themselves.
But that’s about to change.
What if people can benefit from the data they generate?
Imagine a world where people can use their own personal data for their direct benefit. What if owners of this data can use it to their advantage to get access to more services? What new opportunities will that create?
If you’ve ever tried to apply for a loan or a job, you know how tedious it can be. You’ll need to get various documents to fulfill varying requirements. This is hard for the applicant, but it also poses challenges for an employer, a financial institution, or a bank.
This problem is exactly what Smile API aims to solve!
Smile API allows people to use their personal data, specifically their employment and income data, for their own benefit. In turn, they get to access to more opportunities such as getting offered better financial services or job opportunities. Users are able to take control of their own data – they get to decide which data is shared with whom. Smile will not share any type of data without the owner’s full consent. Smile simply acts as a bridge between users' systems of record for their employment and income data (such as their social insurance system, payroll system, and others) and with parties needing this data, such as financial services companies, employment verification companies and others. Every time this is done, Smile gets the user's permission first. In short, everything is done with the user’s total awareness and control, and is done in a secure and transparent way.
The value of employment and income data in financial services
Employment and income data is especially useful in the financial services industry. Traditionally, companies in the financial services industries, particularly in lending as an example, had to rely on demographic data and credit scores to get an indication of a person's financial standing and creditworthiness. While these traditional sources of data are valuable, data such as employment and income data or what the industry calls "alternative data" provides a more complete picture of the customer.
While it can be argued that this data is being asked for by financial services companies from their customers already, typically the existing process for doing so is mired in inefficiency and bad user experience. Companies would ask for a copy of people's employment certificate, payslip, tax return or other proof of income. They would then have someone manually verify the submissions, which is prone to human error and take a lot of time.
What Smile does is essentially digitalize this process--making it more efficient and instantaneous.
Ready to use alternative data for your business?
If this sounds interesting to you, get in touch with us at Smile. We are helping users use their data for their own benefit, by allowing them to share this data with parties they trust. If you are a party that is interested in this type of user-permitted data, let us know.