Independent creative studio Supermassive has announced a partnership with CommBank’s venture scaler, x15ventures, to launch the app Truyu, Mediaweek can reveal.
Available on the App Store and Google Play Store, Truyu is an Australian-first digital protection tool that issues alerts when a user’s identity is deemed at risk or is being misused online at major merchants.
In partnership with the x15ventures team, Supermassive developed the go-to market strategy, including the name, brand positioning, and brand identity of the product, which is inspired by the app’s ability to verify and protect user identity in real time i.e. the “true you”.
Supermassive also worked with visual solutions company Common Design on the Truyu’s brand design.
Jon Austin, co-founder of Supermassive, said Truyu is “the first product of its kind and we can’t wait to see how it helps people.”
“Identity fraud is a significant problem facing Australians, so we were thrilled to be invited to work on creating the name, logo, brand identity and go-to-market strategy for this product from the ground up – a rare opportunity,” he told Mediaweek.
The technology driving Truyu’s ID usage alerts was developed with global digital identity specialist, GBG.
In the event of identity misuses, Truyu will provide links and remediation prompts to help customers secure their information and mitigate further harm or loss. It will also alert users if an email address has been compromised by a data breach, offering proactive guidance to help improve online security.
The initiative comes in the wake of growing identity theft in Australia, with nearly 200,000 victims reported in the last financial year – a 25% year-on-year increase.
Truyu progressed to public pilot status within just five months. In its current launch status, the app is set to test the proposition and gather feedback from customers and the industry.
Managing director of x15, Toby Norton-Smith, added that “tackling the financial, emotional, and social impacts of identity fraud is an important issue, and we’re proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in our first five months.”
As the first service of its kind in Australia, Norton-Smith noted “there is tremendous value in getting Truyu into the hands of customers quickly, so we can learn at pace and see if what we’ve built is the right solution.”
“We believe cross-industry collaboration on fraud and scams will yield the greatest impact and look forward to sharing what we learn with government and industry.”
Earlier this month, Medium Rare Content Agency announced it has produced a television series in conjunction with Boomtown Pictures for CommBank, to air on Network 10, titled The Brighter Side.
The eight-week television series aims to inform Australians with practical tips and new ideas to help them take control of their financial future.
See also: Medium Rare launches financial TV series with CommBank