“So, how are you going to acquire users?”

Great question, glad you asked.This is the first post in a series of four, delving into the practicalities of how Team BABB is going to turn our big idea into reality. In this post, we’ll talk about one of BABB’s key growth mechanisms: Social KYC.

Let’s talk about growth

Many people who are interested in BABB’s token sale have asked about our revenue model, and, by natural extension, our growth model. The success of any business is dependent on acquiring customers. For a network-based product such as BABB, acquiring customers (and retaining them) is also fundamental to the value of the product itself.

“So, how are you going to acquire customers?”

First up, let’s take a look at the role of the ‘customer’ on the BABB platform.

BABB will provide access to a full UK bank account for any individual or small business in the world. Through the BABB app, this bank account will also be a portal to a global network of other BABB account holders across the world.

We want to make it possible to crowdsource every financial service you could ever need, by offering true peer-to-peer interactions. Everyone on the BABB network can use their account to be a saver, borrower, lender, ATM, bureaux de change, and much more. This is why we say: “everyone is a bank”.

That means BABB won’t really have conventional ‘customers’, but rather users of the platform who then receive and add value by participating in financial services. BABB will be just like Facebook, Uber, Airbnb etc. in the sense that…

A BABB account is only valuable if lots of other people are also using the platform. The more people use the BABB platform, the more valuable an account becomes.This is called the network effect. 

Once BABB reaches critical mass of account holders, the network effect will work with us to reach more and more people. But we need to make a splash when we launch and grow the network fast in order to offer genuine value to our early adopters. (FYI, we’re planning to ship a V1 of the app in Q3 2018).

Social KYC in theory

This is how we’re going to bring about that rocket-ship early growth. Social KYC will form the backbone of our go-to-market strategy.

For people without an address and/or without official ID documents, a bank’s KYC (Know Your Customer) process is one of the biggest hurdles to getting an account.

Traditional KYC still has a role to play on the BABB platform, but we’re also going to use the power of biometric technology and social connectivity to tackle in tandem the issues of:

1. determining identity of users; and
2. growing the network of users

You will be able to open a tier one account simply by taking a selfie and saying a pass phrase. To access a tier two account, with expanded limits, someone with a tier three account (who has provided ID and gone through full KYC) must vouch for you.

Tier one: full app functionality, modest balance and transaction limits.

Tier two: full app functionality, generous balance and transaction limits.

Tier three: full functionality, generous limits & the ability to vouch for others.

Social KYC in practice

In any group, there is an early adopter. The geek who introduces their friends to the latest tech; the pioneering daughter who gets her whole family using the same app to communicate; the community leader who is the first to have a passport and driving licence.

We are a globally connected community. Almost every person knows someone with ID who can vouch for them, or knows someone who knows someone who can.

Social KYC will make it easy for early adopters to get their peer groups on board, creating fully banked communities. Once whole communities are connected through BABB, community-led initiatives and crowdsourced financial services are immediately possible. Everyone’s BABB account becomes increasingly valuable as more and more people join in.

Fine print: we will put a limit the number of people that one account holder can vouch for. There will also be rewards on the table, and penalties for vouching for someone who goes on to violate BABB’s T&Cs.

Social KYC will pave the way for ambassador programmes, word-of-mouth growth, and a BABB network which mirrors real-life social connectivity. We’re very proud of the concept. Leave us a comment; let us know what you think!

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