KYC & your data

Helva takes privacy seriously — especially for borrowers. Here’s exactly what’s collected, why, and where it’s stored.

What we ask for

Borrowers and lenders verify their email and pass an identity check (KYC) before a loan goes live.
At MVP, identity checks run through Sumsub (online ID), plus a questionnaire, and — for borrowers — a video identification booked after Sumsub. The loan request becomes visible to lenders only after video identification.
KYC is required because the lending agreements are real contracts under Swiss law.

Data minimization & Swiss residency

All user data — KYC/AML data, profile, communications — is retained in Switzerland, with the following exceptions:
- At MVP, Sumsub processes checks on its servers. Once the verification process is complete (including video identification), Helva asks Sumsub to delete that data. Deletion on their side may take around 30 days. Helva keeps the Swiss file (report PDF and recording) as required.
- Because contracts are signed between borrower and lender, the two parties’ identities are known to each other (and, where a contract is presented to a bank, to that bank’s compliance). This is inherent to a real, enforceable lending agreement.
Roadmap: transition to ZK-based and/or Swiss-based KYC to minimize data exposure further.

A note on contracts

Contracts and payment wording are designed so that bank compliance should not identify the payment as crypto-originated, or the borrower as a crypto-holder. The process is designed to make compliance simple: transfers clear as standard Swiss bank payments.