Aster Key

Hello, Product Hunters! ❤️ I’m Brad Blumberg. Along with my brother Eric and our fantastic team of makers, I’m excited to introduce Aster Key—a groundbreaking app for lenders and privacy-conscious consumers. Today, we announce an industry first: You can start a mortgage process anonymously with mainstream lenders in the United States. Our previous start-up made waves with mobile apps and data solutions for the residential real estate industry. That company was acquired, and we founded Aster Key out of frustration with financial institutions’ vulnerabilities to cyberattacks and data breaches. Yes, our data has been hacked from lender databases! This was in the news this week: "Massive data leak may include the personal data of every person in the US, UK, and Canada," so maybe you've experienced losing your data as well. The Problem When you apply for a mortgage, the harsh reality is that your data is treated like a hot potato—passed between lenders, tech vendors, and intermediaries. This exposes your confidential information to numerous massive, centralized servers, making it a prime target for hackers. Our Solution 🏦 Aster Key provides a channel for mainstream lenders, enabling consumers to bypass the initial application process and start their loans anonymously. 💪 Empower Consumers: Our free and ultra-secure Aster Key app gives consumers control over their financial and personal data. Aster Key’s Security Features 🔒 Secure Storage: Financial data is encrypted and stored directly on the consumer's mobile phone, never on our servers. 🔒 Data Anonymization: Personally identifiable information is removed from financial data, which is then encrypted and stored separately. 🔒 Automated Verification: Financial data is updated and verified via end-to-end encrypted integrations with Plaid and Argyle. 🔒 Field-Level Encryption: We aim to encrypt each piece of financial data individually with changing keys, not just at the database level. Key Features for Consumers 🔒 Centralized view of all financial information for lifetime use. 🔒 Dynamically generated personal financial statements and proof of funds. 🔒 Single passphrase and biometric authentication for enhanced security. 🔒 Anonymous Communication: Protects email address when contacting lenders. 🔒 A private, ad-free environment. 🚀 Anonymous mortgage initiation. Additionally, the app allows you to create verified financial statements and self-serve automated proof of funds letters in the U.S. and several supported countries. We’re planning global expansion, so feel free to reach out if you’re interested in collaborating. Unlike other finance apps like NerdWallet or Credit Karma, Aster Key prioritizes data privacy and ownership, not marketing your data. We're embracing defi principles and have an on-chain, Web3 roadmap. Today, we turn your mobile phone into a decentralized node, a mainstream on-ramp to the future. As Product Hunters, you’re likely the tech-savvy person in your circle—whether at work or in your personal life. Together, we can protect people’s financial assets, and we’d love your feedback and support. ❤️ Thank you.

Question: Who validates and manages the ledger that says you're capable of handling the mortgage? This anonymouse certificate must be managed somewhere and updated continuously?

This is actually awesome — a way for consumers to apply for mortgages without leaking their identity or financial info to data brokers! The dirty secret of high value transactions like this is that they're swarming with hungry data brokers who are looking for every chance to buy, aggregate, and sell warm leads to loan providers. @bradblumberg was fed up with this problem and realized that he could build a pipeline for savvy, forward-looking providers that are willing to give their customers a piece of mind by not harvesting personal information unless and until the consumer has picked a vendor. There's a bunch of fancy on-device encryption and anonymization that makes this all work behind the scenes and the Aster Key team is finally ready to take on banking, mortgage, and credit union customers who want to offer a more secure, privacy-preserving approach to mortgage applications.

Congratulations on the launch, really cool idea, good job by you and your team. I believe mortgage is not your end game right? where are you going from here? good luck today

This sounds like a game-changer, @bradblumberg! The focus on privacy and security is really timely, especially with the recent data breaches making headlines. Just wondering, how does Aster Key manage to ensure complete anonymity while still providing lenders with the necessary information to evaluate applications? Are you planning any partnerships with specific lenders to enhance the app's initial offerings? Also, any insights on your plans for scalability in the future? This is definitely an exciting launch! 🚀

@bradblumberg, we’re sure the most innovative lenders will see a lot of business through this channel. Cheers to the launch!

This is such a valuable tool in todays digital age. The ability to start a mortgage process anonymously is something I think a lot of people will appreciate especially after all the recent data breaches.