Operationalizing biometrics for digital economy is a process

From biometric binding through regulations for payments from digital wallets, the Biometric Update’s top stories of the week reflect a global trend of digital transformation for economic growth and financial inclusion. These kinds of projects are on high on the agenda of lawmakers, regulators and businesses around the world, from developing nations to the largest economies. Digital wallets are the primary vehicle of change, but digital public infrastructure and platforms connecting the various tools must be put in place first. New partnerships for FIC Professionals Network in Nigeria and Citra Lab in Sri Lanka show the market opportunities that come with the transition.

While the digitization process is carried out, technologies like FaceTec’s UR Codes, readable with a free biometric app launched this week, can help bridge the gap between physical ID documents and digital identity.

Top biometrics news of the week

FaceTec’s UR Codes are a biometric technology specifically intended to help ease the transition to digital identity by enabling high accuracy through the delivery of a 72-byte face template that can be scanned from a digital wallet on a high-end smartphone, a temporary ID document printed in paper, or anything in between. The company’s VP of Global Standards Andrew Hughes discussed the launch of the Scan+Match app and the wide range of potential applications organizations are finding for UR Codes in an interview.

FIC Professionals Network has been approved as participant in Nigeria ID4D’s Ecosystem Enrolment Service by NIMC. The company will bring its experience with financial inclusion initiatives to the project to enhance service delivery and bring more Nigerians into the digital economy.

Identity fraud plagues America’s disaster relief efforts, as FEMA relies on legacy identity verification methods in the absence of a common U.S. digital ID, and its financial sector as well. NIST’s revised digital ID standards directly address how FEMA could use more modern, digital methods, a post from Spruce ID points out. But instead of modernizing the system, the new government is closing the agency charged with protecting consumers from lax fraud prevention and privacy breaches.

India’s digital public infrastructure is tied into super wallets that are driving DPI adoption as the country transitions to a cashless economy. That transition includes the use of the CBDC through digital identity, and Soulverse CEO Kavitha Kanaparthi tells Biometric Update the adoption of super wallets also enables a shift towards decentralized digital ID.

Sri Lanka’s is working towards digital public service delivery, and standing up a national data exchange so they can be accessed with the national digital ID. The NDX is a joint initiative of the government’s IT agency and Citra Lab, and is intended to boost the country’s digital economy.

One way to simplify part of the digital transformation process is seen in Trinidad and Tobago, which is adopting DPI-as-a-packaged solution. Deloitte, local partner iGovTT, and a government ministry are collaborating to implement MOSIP and INJI. The project’s success will surely be closely watched, particularly by other small nations preparing for digital transformation.

Digital wallet use is up everywhere, with new stats from American Express Israel showing their popularity for cross-border payments. The Australian Banking Association wants them added into payments regulation, Thailand is preparing to distribute public benefits through its digital wallet, and the Tony Blair Institute says the UK could use its to extend open banking to other sectors.

And in progress on the standards side of the ledger, the credentials in Europe’s digital wallets will be signed according to the updated standard for remote signing services, ETSI TS 119 431, which IDnow Senior Architect Sebastian Elfors explains in a Biometric Update guest post.

The security and integrity of digital credentials is contingent on who has access to them, and in the case of digital IDs on iPhones, that is only the owner of the device. The UK government is demanding access to encrypted data held in the cloud by Apple, however, the BBC reports, raising the prospect of online privacy eroding just as digital wallets take a new place of prominence in everyday life. As Tim Bouma notes on LinkedIn: “Time to start thinking about going beyond the phone.”

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Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital economy  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  financial inclusion  |  week in review