Welcome to Greenflag

The 3rd largest nation in the world is now finally open for business

• 627 million people, with a collective spending power of $1.75 trillion are unjustly exiled from digital services such as financial services, education, healthcare, and employment platforms.
• Identification document issues, lack of digital literacy, physical appearance changes, and country of origin can cause discrepancies with identification, leading to exclusion from services that most people take for granted. (see detailed research in Notes to Editors).
• On World Inclusion Day, to bring this hidden crisis to light, and make online verification processes inclusive, the global online verification platform Sumsub launches ‘Greenflag’, a global awareness campaign.
• Created by Sumsub and independent creative agency Cloudfactory, ‘Greenflag’ represents the outlawed 627 million – a population the size of the United States and Brazil combined – whose ‘citizens’ share the experience of being unfairly alienated from essential digital services.
• The campaign uses imagery depicting a floating server, seemingly lost at sea to powerfully illustrate the isolation and disconnect felt by the 627 million individuals excluded from essential digital services.

According to research* by global online verification platform, Sumsub, 627 million people – with a spending power of $1.75 trillion dollars – around the world are unjustly exiled from digital services and often red-flagged due to bias stereotyping based for reasons such as issues with identification documents, lack of digital literacy, physical appearance changes and country of origin. This profiling can lead to exclusion from services that most people take for granted.

New AI-driven fraud threats are causing businesses to become increasingly risk-averse, leaving everyday necessities—such as financial services, education, healthcare, and employment platforms—out of reach. Once locked out, regaining access becomes nearly impossible without significant changes from businesses.

An accompanying whitepaper by Sumsub, in collaboration with The Catalyst Group, highlights that digital exclusion is not only a societal injustice but also a significant economic oversight, as the lack of accessibility restricts economic participation. To address this, Sumsub has launched ‘Greenflag’, a global awareness campaign to urge businesses to rethink their verification processes by adopting fairer, more inclusive solutions. Sumsub’s ‘Greenflag’ project aims to unveil the massive issue of digital exclusion—affecting over 627 million people—and attract businesses to help solve it. Sumsub’s people-centred and inclusive verification products or features can address some of the reasons why people are unfairly flagged. However, other causes of exclusion require more than just technology. Sumsub envisions a collaborative approach where businesses, governments, and verification providers recognize the scale of this issue and work together to develop comprehensive solutions, ensuring a fairer digital economy for all.

‘Greenflag’ represents a largely untapped market with a collective spending power of a staggering $1.75 trillion dollars. For businesses, embracing inclusivity through updated verification processes unlocks vast opportunities. Those ready to rethink exclusionary practices stand to benefit from engaging this economically powerful population.

Created by Sumsub and independent creative agency Cloudfactory, ‘Greenflag’ is a global campaign launching the first ‘nation’ for a people-friendly digital world, where unfairly red-flagged digital exiles can have their chance to rejoin the digital economy. It launches today in celebration of ‘World Inclusion Day’ with an online film running across digital channels directing businesses to the website https://greenflag.me and uses imagery depicting a floating server, seemingly lost at sea to powerfully illustrate the isolation and disconnect felt by the 627 million individuals excluded from essential digital services. It is also supported by influencer activity (see notes to editors for list of influencers and handles).

The website contains the aforementioned White Paper and information for businesses on how to be more inclusive in their verification processes and how Sumsub can help them unlock an unfairly exiled market, making digital services accessible to all.

In addition, ‘Greenflag’ will be presented at worldwide tech trade events and rolled out across all global B2B outreach.

Julia Kim, Chief Marketing Officer of Sumsub commented: “At Sumsub, we believe that access to digital services is a right, not a privilege. The exclusion of over 627 million people from essential services is a global crisis that demands urgent attention. Through the ‘Greenflag’ campaign, we’re shedding light on this hidden issue and challenging businesses to rethink how they approach verification. By implementing more inclusive solutions, we can empower people and unlock enormous economic potential, while ensuring that digital services are accessible to all. It’s time for the industry to come together and take action for creating a fairer digital economy.”

César García, Creative Director at Cloudfactory added: “Our goal was to create a tangible representation of a very real problem that has remained invisible for too long. The concept of the floating server, seemingly lost at sea, powerfully illustrates the isolation and disconnect felt by the 627 million individuals excluded from essential digital services…

As an agency rooted in Creative Activism, we are dedicated to driving action. Many companies are swayed to tighten security due to new AI driven fraud, meaning businesses become too risk-averse when accepting new customers. We envision ‘Greenflag’ as a genuine pathway to change, offering actionable solutions businesses can adopt immediately. We aim to show the value in this marginalised group, shifting the perception of risk to a nation that’s now open for business.”

‘Greenflag’ will run globally including the US, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, South Africa, and UAE.

*The research methodology for estimating the population of Greenflag, representing those excluded from the digital world, combined online surveys and comprehensive desk research. The online survey, conducted with 1,521 respondents, used automated tools and expert review to ensure high data quality, revealing that 22.88% of individuals face digital access challenges. This figure was extrapolated globally, accounting for 627.3 million digitally excluded people. Desk research further refined these estimates using global population data, literacy rates, and internet access statistics. Additionally, the study estimated the economic impact of digital exclusion, concluding that Greenflag would account for €1.57 trillion of the digital commerce market by 2024. Data sources included organisations such as the World Bank, UNESCO, and Statista.

Source: Cloudfactory

  Advertising, Awareness Campaign, Campaign, Cloudfactory, Greenflag, Marketing, Sumsub, World Inclusion Day