Neobank Cogni Soul-bound NFTs for KYC verification

by James · April 30, 2023

New York-based financial institution, Neobank Cogni, has added soul-bound NFT verification to the KYC process for its recently launched crypto wallet. For the bank’s customers, the NFTs will store the KYC information they provided during registration, but presented in a Web3 environment.

The move comes four months after Neobank launched its non-custodial multi-chain crypto wallet that allows users to send, receive and hold cryptocurrencies and NFTs. It is this wallet that will be used to mint the non-transferable soul-bound NFTs, which will contain users’ KYC information that can be shared with dApps subject to the holder’s consent.

According to Archie Raviskankar, founder and CEO of Cogni, the goal is to offer customers an improved user experience. In a statement he notes, “The reason the crypto-curious haven’t been able to jump on the decentralization bandwagon is one, obviously, the user experience. The other is trust in the ecosystem.”

Why Neobank chose Soulbound NFTs

Soul-bound NFTs represent blockchain assets that allow holders to prove ownership over an item, either physically or digitally. They are non-transferable, making them ideal for managing permanent records.

In Neobank’s case, they will hold “bank level” KYC information that is in line with US regulators. This information will be used to access partnering dApps without the user going through the process over and over again. In the future, Cogni aims to create a marketplace of DApps that will tap into these soul-bound NFTs for user KYC information in a few clicks.

The soul-bound tokens will initially be available to a select few members, before opening up to the public in the summer.