Cash in a few taps: How Soonly upgraded verification for mobile-first lending

Soonly is one of the leaders in online consumer lending, with nearly 3 million identity verifications completed. Its portfolio spans three products: Vivigo, a revolving consumer loan for fast, everyday borrowing; Vivi-Raty, an installment loan for larger, longer-term financing; and Patento, where companies partner with Soonly to offer financing to their employees.

Vivigo's customers skew younger and mobile-first, valuing speed and simplicity – 95% apply from a phone. They’re used to getting things on a tap, and a flow that asks them to fill in forms and copy-paste details is one they'll drop.

That expectation shaped how Soonly approached identity verification. We spoke with Piotr Mazan, Marketing Director at Soonly, about how the company is modernizing its lending and why stronger identity verification became central to that shift.

Let's start with the most important thing – your customers. Who are they, and what do they expect from you?

It depends on the product. Vivigo customers are mostly Gen Z. They're used to a world where everything happens on a tap, so the experience has to match that. We repositioned Vivigo around exactly that idea: I have it with me always, I can pay wherever I am. 

Vivi-Raty is different. It's an installment loan, so the borrowing is longer-term. The online installment market is crowded now, UX matters a great deal, so we're always looking for solutions that are simple and fast on a phone.

What were you using for verification before, and what pushed you to change it?

We had a single identification method: the penny transfer. We need a confirmed bank account to pay the loan into, so that method did its job for years.

But as we started developing that product, we wanted to give customers a better, faster experience. We could see that a single method wasn't going to be enough as the new regulations came in, so we wanted to get ahead of it. That led us to account information services, open banking, so customers could get their loans faster.

When you went looking, what mattered most in a partner?

Our concept evolved as we went. We started out interested in mObywatel (Polish eID) and video verification, and several firms were in the running. But we realized we didn't want to sign directly with a single verification vendor. We wanted to work through a platform that would let us expand methods over time.

Authologic's broader offer weighed heavily in the decision.

Did that future-proofing resonate?

We're a fintech, so it matters to us. Your team has been presenting a clear vision around digital identity, the new laws, the European wallet. Having a partner who's thinking years ahead, who'll keep up technologically as the rules change, was genuinely important.

The regulatory picture is getting more complex. We have the new consumer credit law, CCD2, which requires checking creditworthiness in several ways. We have a new AML law coming that explicitly requires a check from the customer's ID document, not just mObywatel. The requirements keep growing.

Tell me about the integration itself. Large IT projects have a reputation.

It went very smoothly and on schedule, with nothing that caught us off guard.

What have you seen since launch?

We're satisfied with the results. The clearest signal is that month over month, more customers are choosing to identify through the open banking method.

We can see it in the invoices. That growth tells us people find it convenient and trust it.

You also surveyed your call-center customers about mObywatel. What did you find?

We surveyed the customers who call our helpline – typically our older, less digital users – and even there, about half use mObywatel. Different customers prefer different methods, and everyone should have one that feels familiar to them.

Looking ahead, what does this foundation let you do next?

We want to bring in more verification methods, and we're adding them specifically to stay ahead of the laws coming next year.

Last question. What's the most common mistake companies make with verification?

Treating it as a one-off technical box to tick instead of something you'll keep extending. The rules keep changing, and the method that's enough today won't be enough next year. We learned that ourselves. The penny transfer worked for years, and now we know it needs alternatives. So we're adding methods ahead of time rather than scrambling later.

Thank you very much for your time today. We're looking forward to seeing how Soonly keeps raising the bar in the industry!