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Sign Today, a start-up verification agency based in Thiruvananthapuram, wants to take the ‘verification culture’ to the common man, unlike peers that mostly serve corporate employers or multinationals. Russel Shaan, founder of the startup, told BusinessLine that he aims to train 1.56 lakh young men and women as verification agents — one for every post office in the country — and franchise or independent business owners.
Post training — offered free of cost — the verification agencies will function under the umbrella network, he said.
The need for stringent background checks for goods or service has never been felt more than it is now, says Shaan. “Be it hiring an employee to applying for a job, buying products online, or even entering into a business contract... all need to go thorough scrutiny and verification to ensure the validity of the goods or transaction.”
Quick service
Sign Today aims to deliver same-day verification services, as against the 32-45 days it may take in the corporate world. “There is a huge pent-up demand among the public for verification services for myriad purposes and we want to tap into it,” Shaan says.
Sign Today will follow the Swiggy/Zomato model to deploy an army of licensed verification agents across the country, adding strength to the gig economy. The start-up will help trained youngsters acquire a government licence andbank/GST accounts.
Franchisees in each state will collect and disseminate authentic information, as also help coordinate background checks, criminal checks, financial checks, profile verification, and tenant verification of individuals and organisations. The start-up intends to send a trainer to each of the 740 districts in the country. Shaan says he has built the backend of his enterprise since 2017.
Alert against cyber fraud
Verification agencies under ‘Sign Today’ will be trained to raise alerts against potential cyber fraud, distribution of pornography or obscene comments on social media. One can also seek help to ensure an online financial transaction is secure. The agents will also fetch credit scores, including from agencies such as CIBIL.
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