KYC Tokenization Case Study
Concept · Digital identity

Verify once. Reuse the token everywhere.

TrustKYC turns a one-time KYC verification into a reusable, consent-gated identity token. Merchants request access to a "template" of documents instead of collecting them again.

My role
Sole designer, concept exploration
Timeline
2-week concept sprint
Platform
Mobile · iOS & Android
TrustKYC app open on a phone in hand, showing the device-binding security step
01 · Overview

One verification, a reusable token.

TrustKYC is a digital document vault: it verifies a user once and issues a reusable, consent-gated identity token. I designed it end to end: onboarding, verification, and the merchant consent flow that lets other services request access to that token instead of collecting documents themselves.

02 · The Problem

Every new service means redoing KYC from scratch.

A user who's already KYC-verified with one financial institution still has to re-upload the same Aadhaar, PAN, and address proof for the next insurer, lender, or wallet. Each service re-collects and re-stores the same sensitive documents, with no way for the user to control what's shared or with whom.

Friction

Repeated verification

Document upload, OTP, and manual review happen again for every new merchant relationship, even when the user was verified days earlier elsewhere.

Exposure

No consent boundary

Once documents are shared, the user has no visibility into what a merchant holds or for how long. Sharing is all-or-nothing, not scoped.

03 · Goals

What the token needed to do.

Goal

Verify once

Onboarding should feel like a one-time setup cost, not a recurring tax on every new service.

Goal

Consent, not documents

Merchants request access to a named bundle of data. The user sees and approves exactly what's shared, every time.

Goal

Reusable beyond KYC

The same verified identity should carry into other use cases, not stay siloed to one app or integration.

04 · Process

From friction map to a testable model.

A short, focused sprint: map where re-KYC friction actually bites, design the token/consent model, then prototype the onboarding and merchant flows against it.

01

Map the friction

Where re-verification actually happens, and what it costs the user.

02

Design the token model

What a "template" is, who can request it, and what consent looks like.

03

Prototype onboarding + consent

TrustKYC verification flow and the merchant request/approve screens.

05 · The Solution

Verify once, in TrustKYC.

Mobile OTP, Aadhaar verification, and a progress state that's honest about the wait. Then a quick-login and device-binding step, so the token, once issued, doesn't need re-verifying on every open.

TrustKYC onboarding flow: get started, create account, verify mobile OTP, verify Aadhaar, verification progress, quick login, device binding, home Click to zoom
Get started → mobile OTP → Aadhaar verification → progress → quick login → device binding. Verification happens once; everything after reuses the same session.
06 · The Solution

Consent, not documents.

When a merchant (an insurer, in this case) needs KYC data, they don't get the user's documents. They request access to a named template: a defined bundle of documents for a defined purpose. The user sees exactly what's being asked for and approves or declines it directly.

Merchant consent flow: insurer app requests access to a KYC template, user reviews documents included, approves with PIN Click to zoom
LIC requests "Template 1." The user sees every document in it before approving with a PIN, and no raw documents change hands until then.
01

The template model over raw document sharing

Instead of merchants pulling a document list, they request a named, pre-defined bundle. Why it matters: the user reviews one clear request ("Template 1: 5 documents") instead of a permissions checklist. Honestly, that single consent screen took more iteration than the entire onboarding flow: naming and scoping the bundle so it reads as trustworthy in one glance turned out to be the hard part.

07 · Impact

Presented as a direction, not a shipped product.

This is concept-stage work, presented internally to stakeholders rather than built and released. Its value was in making the token/consent model concrete enough to react to.

  • Made the abstract concrete. "Reusable KYC" is easy to say and hard to picture. Walking stakeholders through an actual consent screen made the idea legible in a way a slide couldn't.
  • Surfaced the real design problem early. The internal discussion converged quickly on consent and template scoping as the crux of the idea, not onboarding, which is what most KYC conversations default to.
08 · Future Scope

Open, for now.

There's no defined next phase yet. This stays a concept until there's a specific integration to design for. The open question worth returning to: how the template model scales past a handful of merchants without turning into a permissions system nobody reads.

09 · Reflection

The hard part wasn't verification. It was consent.

Onboarding (OTP, Aadhaar, biometric setup) is a well-worn pattern. The genuinely hard design problem was the merchant consent screen: naming a bundle of documents so a user trusts it in one glance, without turning it into a checklist nobody reads. If I did this again, I'd start there, not with onboarding.