The pandemic has radically altered consumers’ expectations regarding how they transact with merchants, making digital-first experiences the standard in many areas of their lives.
The banking sector has seen these digital shifts as well, especially as brick-and-mortar branches have been forced to dramatically trim their operating hours and limit in-person interactions. To fill the void, customers have demanded innovative identity verification tools that promise to be seamless, swift and secure.
Efforts are now being made to incorporate blockchain technology into digital ID verification processes. Proponents say these tools not only expedite verification but also offer more control to consumers over their personal data.
The April “Digital Identity Tracker®” explores how financial institutions (FIs) and businesses are turning to blockchain technology to streamline their identity verification efforts.
Around the Digital Identity Landscape
FIs and other entities around the globe have begun to recognize the appeal and functionality of blockchain-based ID verification solutions, with one of the most recent examples originating in Spain. Ten Spanish firms — Banco Santander, Bankia, BME, CaixaBank, Inetum, Liberbank, Línea Directa Aseguradora, Mapfre, Naturgy and Repsol — announced that they are teaming up to create a blockchain-enabled, self-managed ID offering that will let users automatically fill in online applications and eCommerce checkout forms. The initiative, called Dalion, intends to give consumers more control over their data by allowing them to store it on their mobile devices and dole out it out as needed rather than entrusting it to FIs or card networks.
Biometrics are also increasingly coming to the fore, with one report revealing that 1.4 billion consumers worldwide are expected to authenticate their payments via software-based facial biometrics by 2025. This would represent growth of 120 percent over the 671 million individuals who used facial biometrics last year. The report noted that the hardware and software needed to enable these types of payments has become much more common in recent years and attributed much of the growth to that.
Newer digital ID-based verification solutions could soon supplant passwords as the dominant form of authentication, if recent research is any indicator. One report analyzed survey responses from more than 2,700 businesses and 9,000 consumers in 10 countries, finding that passwords failed to breach the top three in terms of their most trusted authentication options. Respondents instead chose biometrics, short message service-based PIN codes and behavioral biometrics as their top three trusted methods.
For more on these and other digital identity news, download this month’s Tracker.
Aion Bank On Why FIs Must Put Digital ID Verification Center Stage
The pandemic has prompted banks around the world to reexamine their operations in an effort to shift digital, but there is one area in which they can still struggle to do so: customer verification. There are numerous technologies that can help them overcome this hurdle by digitally sending their data to banks during sign-up, from blockchain-based solutions to offerings that leverage near-field communication (NFC).
In this month’s Feature Story, Tomasz Motyl, chief information officer at Belgium-based Aion Bank, explains how NFC-based ID verification methods allow the bank to meet its customers’ needs for remote, digital onboarding.
How Blockchain Technology Can Ease Digital ID Verification, Onboarding
Consumers’ digital tastes are prompting a growing number of entities to incorporate digital ID verification solutions into their onboarding processes. Blockchain technology is particularly promising in this regard, as it offers consumers more control over the data they hold and share with banks and merchants.
This month’s Deep Dive examines how blockchain-based solutions can help retailers and FIs streamline onboarding while putting control back in consumers’ hands for a more secure service.
About The Tracker
The monthly “Digital Identity Tracker®,” a PYMNTS and Jumio collaboration, offers coverage of the most recent news and trends in the digital ID ecosystem.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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