Trustdock

Market position

Ranked No.1 by number of deploying companies among eKYC services that develop core eKYC functions in-house, according to Tokyo Shoko Research surveys cited as of December 2024, with the same ranking reported in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The company describes itself as Japan's only dedicated eKYC/digital ID specialist firm and states it has received investment from the country's three megabanks. Third-party profiling describes it as a leading KYC provider in Japan and Thailand.

Specialist focus on identity verification rather than a broader software suite; bundling of regulatory and fraud-prevention operational know-how with the system; coverage of individual eKYC, corporate verification, anti-social-forces checks and My Number collection in one provider; 24/7 in-house review staff and BPO option; a stated policy of not using or reselling personal information to third parties; and a consumer digital ID app that can be reused across services.

Technology

API-first verification platform combining machine matching with 24/7/365 human review staff, a JavaScript uploader component for browser-based capture, SDKs for app integration, IC chip reading of identity documents, support for Japan's public personal authentication (JPKI) and My Number card, selfie/liveness checks and Salesforce integration. Third-party profiling lists a stack including Amazon Web Services, Google BigQuery, Tableau, Datadog, WordPress, Notion, Box and OpenAI. A partnership with iProov covered biometric authentication.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales supported by online consultations, free trials, downloadable materials and document requests, monthly free webinars and seminars on regulatory topics, customer case-study interviews, and content marketing on eKYC compliance. Implementation is described as achievable in as little as two weeks through a staged process of requirements hearing, quotation and NDA, test account and operational design, contract, and production release. The company also participates in government and industry working groups on KYC standardization.

Businesses and government bodies that must confirm customer identity, including financial services, reuse/secondhand goods, sharing economy and household services, staffing and spot-work platforms, car sharing and subscription services, telecom operators, and national ministries and municipalities. Named users include Sofmap, freee finance lab, CaSy, Timee, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (eMAFF common application service), the Japanese Bankers Association, IDEX Auto Japan, JR East and MUFG Bank.

Geography

Headquartered at WeWork Tokyo Square Garden, 3-1-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0031, Japan, serving Japanese enterprises and public-sector bodies; document support covers passports from multiple countries and multilingual settings. A third-party profile describes the company as a KYC provider in Japan and Thailand with plans for wider e-KYC expansion.

History

The company was established on 1 November 2017 and is led by founder and CEO Takahiro Chiba, with Akihide Higo as director and CISO, Kensuke Kusajima as director and CFO (joined December 2022, CFO from July 2023, director from November 2025), Jugo Tasaki as executive officer heading the Verification business unit (joined April 2022, executive officer from July 2025) and Chisa Takabe as statutory auditor (April 2024). Product milestones include the speed risk check service (2019) and the TRUSTDOCK Uploader plus JPKI-based eKYC (2020). Recognition includes Tokyo Shoko Research's No.1 eKYC deployment ranking in 2021, 2022 and 2023, selection for METI's J-Startup program in October 2021, the ASPIC IoT/AI/Cloud Award 2022 Service Collaboration Award, and inclusion in METI's 2023 list of 100 startups with government collaboration records. Earlier awards include Nikkei BP's Nikkei FinTech Startups, FIBC 2019 (Audience and Quick prizes), FINSUM×REGSUM 2018, the Fujitsu Accelerator Program 6th cohort, PropTech Startup Conference 2019 and the Japan round of Mastercard Start Path.

Risks & controversies

The business is tied to Japanese regulatory regimes such as the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds and the Mobile Phone Fraud Prevention Act, whose ongoing amendments require continual product adaptation, and it handles large volumes of personal identification data, making privacy and information security controls central to operations. Third-party aggregator figures for headcount, revenue and funding are estimates and differ from company-published information.