Traditional banks may be at risk of losing their leading position when it comes to developing national digital identity solutions. Big tech firms and various other multinational networked companies might be able to offer better digital identity schemes and take the lead, industry association Mobey Forum noted.
Mobey’s “How to Make Digital Identity a Success” report offers an overview that compares seven digital ID solutions offered in Europe and North America. These include Alastria, e-Estonia, Itsme, NemID, BankID, Verimi and Verified.Me.
The report states that giant tech firms including Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Alibaba/Alipay and several other dominant digital players have great potential to take over the global market for digital ID platforms.
Jukka Yliuntinen, co-chair at the Digital ID expert group for Mobey Forum, stated:
“Banks have mastered the ability to operate at scale in highly regulated environments, under conditions that require rigorous and stringent security and identity verification procedures.”
Yliuntinen added:
“This has enabled them to play a key role in the evolution of national digital ID schemes and also makes them prime candidates to be future guardians of digital identities, supporting services that stretch far beyond banking and generating new revenues as a result.”
Yliuntinen went on to mention that this “advantageous position could change quickly” if other large networked stakeholders move into the sector. He added that banks must realize that the chance to adopt these key roles may be closing faster than they might expect.
In order to maintain their dominant position, traditional banks should focus on firmly establishing their role as arbiters of trust in environments with multiple parties. They should also begin working cooperatively with other major service providers such as governments, regulatory authorities, and telcos.
Elina Mattila, executive director at Mobey Forum, noted:
“This collaborative model is here to stay. It’s only through close collaboration that banks can both address the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by digital identity.”
