Entrustt and the Next-of-Kin API Gap in Africa

What Entrustt is for

Entrustt keeps a consented next-of-kin register, watches for customer inactivity on rules the institution sets, and sends each case to a person for review before anything is shared. It never holds or moves money. This is a statement about what we could find, not proof that nothing else exists.

What institutions use today

• A field in the customer record. A name and number captured once and rarely checked.
• Identity (KYC) checks. They confirm who a person is, not who to contact.
• Account verification. For example Standard Chartered’s service in South Africa. It matches an account to a name.
• Overseas will and vault products. Empathy, Trust & Will and SecureSafe sell in the US, UK and Europe. We saw no public developer API for African institutions.

Why the gap exists

Next of kin has no legal weight, so it became a form field. A Bank of Ghana official said in October 2024 that it is a contact, not an heir. In Nigeria, next of kin cannot access the account without probate or letters of administration. That is why the record should be good: it lets an institution reach the right person early.

What a purpose-built product needs

• Consent and a recorded relationship.
• Contact checks while the customer is alive.
• An inactivity clock the institution controls.
• Human review before any disclosure.
• An audit trail and signed webhooks.

Entrustt covers these. See the plain description, providers compared, or build or buy. Not to be confused with Entrust: see the difference.