G+D VP suggests banks take charge of digital identity ecosystem

Banks have the confidence of consumers, data, regulatory experience and expertise take a dominant position in the digital identity ecosystem and fix the fragmentation and complexity that has crept into it, increasing vulnerabilities and friction, according to a blog post to the website of digital financial services industry association Mobey Forum.

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) Mobile Security Vice President and Co-Chair of Mobey Forum’s Digital ID Expert Group Jukka Yliuntinen writes that many industries are scrambling to find effective ways to establish identity as they shift to digital services. Providing a secure and convenient method could have major economic benefits, he says, citing a report by the Open Identity Exchange which suggests the UK could gain 2.5 percent in GDP with an effective digital identity solution.

Identity solutions provider Veridos is a joint venture between G+D and state-owned document maker Bundesdruckerei.

According to a 2018 survey, banks are trusted by 60 percent of consumers in Germany to provide digital identity, compared to only 5 percent for social media platforms, which latter number Yliuntinen writes has likely eroded further due to various public privacy scandals.

“Effective digital identity is built on trust,” Yliuntinen writes. “The more trust you have in an identity, the more it can be used for. Consumers trust banks to secure their data and privacy. Why? Because protecting assets is what banks do. Whether it be money, or identity.”

Yliuntinen lauds programs like BankID in Norway and Sweden and Verified.Me in Canada as good examples of collaboration between banks, and Belgium’s itsme as an example of cross-industry collaboration, in line with the recent call by the Emerging Payments Association for greater collaboration by the financial services industry.

With eIDAS regulation making identity checks carried out in one EU country valid in the others, and PSD2 providing a possible catalyst for innovation, a universal model for digital identity could be on the horizon, providing banks with a significant strategic revenue opportunity.

Infosec Pro recently gave the digital identity ecosystem mediocre grades in an annual report card.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data protection  |  digital identity  |  financial services  |  Giesecke & Devrient (G+D)  |  Mobey Forum