A new app is finally making online dating safe. Marshmallo does not tolerate creeps, catfishers, registered sex offenders, or people lying about their age. The platform also ensures you’ll never receive an avalanche of unwelcome messages.
Founder and CEO Andrew Hendel created Marshmallo to be the safest dating app in the world. “I have a sister who is nine years my junior,” he explains, “and I see the kinds of risks she exposes herself to when she meets people. That’s why I wanted to apply financial technology that’s designed to keep money safe to the online dating world to keep people safe.”
Marshmallo improves the safety of online dating in many ways.
Most online daters have had the same depressing experience — you meet someone for the first time only for your date to look different from their profile picture. Sometimes, they’re far older than their photos suggest, or even a completely different person than who they said they were.
To fix these problems, Marshmallo verifies users’ identities and ages with official IDs. “We use the same identity verification provider as major financial technology companies like Square, Brex, and Toast,” Hendel explains.
But what if it’s a fake ID? Marshmallo also has an answer for that. When people create an account, they provide a selfie to prove they are the same person as shown on the photo ID. “The technology works by using machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect fake IDs and make sure the ID photo matches people’s selfies,” Hendel says.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing those selfies you upload to create your Marshmallo account. “They’re purely for identity verification,” Hendel says. “We don’t show those pictures on profiles, so you can safely create a Marshmallo account in bed or on the couch.”
The app also investigates every subsequent selfie and profile picture to confirm that it truly belongs to that user. “We also use other facial recognition technology to make sure people’s profile pictures match their government ID photo and selfie,” Hendel says. “On other dating apps, people can join with a fake name, false age, and phony photos, so you may not be meeting the person you think you are meeting.”
Since Marshmallo is privy to users’ true identities and dates of birth, they also check over 300 databases and exclude over 700,000 registered sex offenders. This is something other apps don’t do, despite statistics that show 1 in 10 registered sex offenders has an online dating profile.
Chances are, if you’ve tried online dating, you’ve received at least one shocking message or request from another user. Marshmallo includes safeguards to prevent that kind of abuse.
Marshmallo is set up to permit only one unreciprocated message. If your new suitor is overly enthusiastic, they can only contact you again once you’ve responded. That means if you don’t want to hear from someone again, you don’t have to.
Marshmallo also makes online dating safer by helping you control who sees your personal information better. “While most dating apps enable people to share their religion, political views, eating preferences, or COVID vaccination status, we give you the option to disclose that information only to people who have the same answer,” Hendel says.
These privacy features empower users to connect authentically with like-minded individuals while shielding themselves from those who might have a negative reaction. “The idea is to give people more comfort to share information about themselves so they can make better matches without exposing personal information to everybody,” Hendel explains.
have exposed the dangers that online daters confront when meeting another user in the real world. Since these include the possibility of sexual assault, venturing into online dating can sometimes feel like an episode of the true-crime television series Dateline.
“On other dating apps, a stranger can do something harmful and just disappear,” Hendel observes. “The dating app may want to help law enforcement, but they have no idea who their users truly are. They only know what people self-report. Honest people may share honest things about themselves, but it’s not the honest people you have to worry about.”
Marshmallo is different. For one thing, sex offenders are routinely screened out of the community. For another, the app knows who its users are.
“Since we’ve verified names and dates of birth, if somebody does something wrong in person, they’re much more likely to get caught,” Hendel explains. “That’s a powerful deterrent to bad behavior.”
In today’s digital age, meeting someone may have become more perilous than in the past, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By joining Marshmallo, you can ensure your future dating will be safe.
“Online dating has replaced introductions from friends as the most common way romantic relationships are formed, and I want to make that safer for people,” Hendel says. “Plus, the app is fun! Marshmallows are candy — they’re sweet, and Marshmallo makes people’s dating experience sweet, too.”
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