Business Chief USA February 2019

TECHNOLOGY
40
Having bank details lost or stolen is something
many of us have experienced, but as technology
continues to disrupt the finance industry
the lengthy process of resolving the problem
seems increasingly archaic. This was certainly the
case for Alastair Johnson, founder and CEO of
blockchain startup Nuggets, upon losing his own
card details. When he eventually received his
replacement card, he had to re-enter new information
on dozens of websites and was struck by the
lack of both convenience and security at a time
when data breaches were making the headlines.
“You wouldn’t write down your mother’s maiden
name, email address and national insurance (NI)
number on a post-it note and leave it in every cash
till on the high street – but in a digital sense we do
that all over the place,” he comments.
The experience prompted Johnson to found
Nuggets, which promises to help customers “take
back control” of their data in 2016. The ecommerce
payment and ID platform allows users to store
their payment details on blockchain technology to
achieve a single sign-on method which means
personal data doesn’t need to be shared with
multiple organizations. “You can transact securely
and verify your identity without somebody having
access to that data and being able to take over
FEBRUARY 2019