Jumio Public Statement for the Fintech Equality Coalition

Jumio Joins the Fintech Equality Coalition

The inception of the Fintech Equality Coalition came at the perfect time for Jumio. In light of Black Lives Matter and the continued inequalities and inequities faced by people of color, Jumio’s team renewed our commitment to our core value of diversity and began reexamining ways for our company to engage in meaningful action.

Our team is eager to find ways we can amplify our voice and actions to have a broader and more meaningful impact than we could hope to achieve on our own. We actively looked for opportunities to collaborate and it was easy to see that the Fintech Equality Coalition’s mission aligns closely with our personal and corporate values. We’re delighted to become an active member of the coalition. It’s the right thing to do and supports our belief that we are stronger through diversity.

We don’t intend to stop here though, this is just the start of Jumio accelerating our efforts to improve diversity and inclusion for all underrepresented groups. We want to ensure our response is sustained. It has to be the start of something lasting — a movement more than a moment.

A Bit About Jumio and D&I to Date

Jumio is a global organisation with 11 offices around the world. In many ways we’re already a diverse group of professionals and we certainly value the different perspectives and experiences people bring to the company. Diversity has been one of our core values* for several years. We provide our people with the training and tools to help increase their awareness and understanding of differences and why they matter, so their actions can contribute to an inclusive and high-performing workplace culture. However, we’ve grown rapidly and recognise that we’ve not always found time for coordinated efforts to review and improve diversity and inclusion. This has to and will change.

Our first D&I Council, DISCO (Diversity and Inclusion Support Community), has made a positive start in London and we will scale this approach globally. It has to be a lot more than a fun acronym though and needs to avoid becoming an ineffective talking shop. We want action and measurable outcomes, to progress our own organisation and make a wider impact outside Jumio’s walls. Aligning our voice and effort with the Fintech Equality Coalition is a positive and exciting step in this direction.

Company Commitments

Measure and Report:

• Jumio has started to collect and report on demographic data across all locations and functions. We will publish aggregate data annually, including contributing to the Fintech Equality Coalition’s report.
• In our hiring process we will collect demographic data at application to track and report on conversion rates for under-represented groups throughout the recruitment life cycle.

Product:

• At the start of the COVID-19 crisis we launched Jumio Go For Good, providing free identity verification services to qualifying organisations involved in COVID-19 relief efforts. We’re pleased to confirm we are extending Jumio Go For Good through December 31, 2020.
• Through the Fintech Equality Coalition, we’re announcing our commitment to explore the best way to extend Jumio Go For Good to minority-owned businesses and/or organisations working toward reducing inequalities. We will identify and implement a way of providing our products to relevant organisations at no cost in 2021.
• We will redouble efforts to identify and minimize bias in our AI and machine learning models. We will extend this to our technology partners and customers to ensure Jumio’s products are bias-free.

People and Time:

• Jumio will dedicate time and funds to resource sustained D&I focus and progress.
• We will keep D&I on our agenda at every opportunity, embedding increased awareness and action across functions and locations.
• We will consult and collaborate with our partners’ and customers’ D&I councils as well as playing an active role in working groups such as those established by the Fintech Equality Coalition.
• In 2021 Jumio will dedicate time for everyone across the company to collaborate on a D&I Innovation Hackathon. Focused on inspiring actionable ideas for reducing bias and inequality.

 Strategy and Principles:

• Jumio will work to develop a Social Impact Strategy with a clear focus on diversity and inclusion.
• We will align our efforts with the UN SDG (Sustainable Development) Goal #10 – reducing inequalities** to provide a consistent compass setting for all of our D&I and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
• We will be guided by a combination of lived experience and evidence based research.
• Based on research from the Behavioural Insights Team we will include these guiding principles for all D&I initiatives:
  • Set clear, challenging but realistic goals for named individuals to deliver
  • Set and publish deadlines
  • Publish and share targets
  • Monitor and report on progress
• These steps are shown to be effective and we will adopt them across all of Jumio’s D&I activities.

DISCO: Jumio’s Diversity and Inclusion Support Community

DISCO’s Mission

To objectively increase Jumio’s D&I maturity with a particular focus on increasing inclusivity and establishing a D&I approach that can be scaled globally. Placing priority on raising awareness through educational content and communication, being able to measure and report on progress and creating a safe haven for discussion of issues and concerns. We need to identify, prioritise and implement initiatives that make a positive impact on how our employees, customers and candidates feel about their Jumio experience. Delivering tangible outcomes that measurably improve D&I at Jumio, including but not limited to reducing inequalities for race, gender, LGBTQ+, religion and nationality.

We are committed to extending our D&I initiatives and establishing D&I councils or task forces in all regions, adopting a ‘global and local’ approach. We want collective and coordinated action across Jumio to maximise impact. We also recognise the importance of context and having the flexibility to deliver and support targeted initiatives by and for local teams. Live and planned activities include:

• D&I demographic data and commitment to reporting annually
• Reviewing and minimising AI-based bias in our products
• Innovation challenge for our Engineering team to replace the annual hackathon
• D&I referral scheme to increase incentives for referring diversity candidates
• D&I calendar to recognise and celebrate key D&I dates, globally and locally
• Safe haven to provide anonymous opportunities for people to raise concerns and receive support
• Increasing D&I data capture and reporting throughout the hiring process to identify and address and minimise any bias in our processes
• Renewing and reinforcing the training and education opportunities for all Jumios
• Consistently collating and sharing compelling educational content
• Defining and securing budgets (time and money) to ensure sustained prioritisation and progress for Jumio’s D&I maturity
• Identifying and supporting organisations committed to reducing inequalities, including Stonewall, Good ID and Tech Talent Charter
• Consulting and coordinating with customers, partners and coalitions to extend the reach and results of D&I actions

Summary

At Jumio, we love the fact that our work has a positive purpose. Every day we strive to reduce identity fraud, account takeovers, and to make the internet a safer place. We are adding a sustained focus on reducing inequality wherever and whenever we can. We appreciate we can make better and more meaningful contributions by learning from and collaborating with as wide an array of people, companies and charities as possible.

When you include a diversity of minds and perspectives in the decision-making process, you inevitably have a better and stronger result because the environment in the room becomes open. We’re committed to talking with our people, rather than talking at them.

We welcome all inquiries and suggestions and can be reached at [email protected]

*Jumio’s IDEAL Values are Integrity, Diversity, Empowerment, Accountability and Leading Innovation.

**Apart from our tree planting schemes. We really like our tree planting schemes.