UK Finance backs major banks to launch digital verification service

Source: UK Finance

UK Finance announces that it is supporting Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group and Santander to develop a financial services-led digital verification service.

Many online processes still require customers to repeatedly verify who they are, often through sharing multiple physical documents or pieces of information to confirm a single detail such as their age or address.

This service would therefore aim to provide a simple and secure way for customers to verify personal details digitally through their banking app. Based on the trusted relationships banks and building societies have with their customers, the relevant verified information – such as name, age or address – would be shared securely with a third party to enable someone to complete a transaction, or access a service. Any future service would be voluntary and based on explicit customer consent, with customers remaining in control of what data is shared and when.

Examples of how such a service could be used include making purchases online, verifying age and identity through online platforms, property transactions or opening an account online. As shown in the example customer journey diagram below, this would be done without needing to share physical documents such as a passport or utility bills.

The aim is that a digital verification service would provide:

• Trust, control and privacy: customers choose what information to share, when, and with whom, with explicit consent required each time
• Fraud reduction: secure, bank/building society verified credentials could help tackle scams, fake accounts and synthetic identities
• Convenience: customers could confirm their identity quickly and securely without repeatedly providing documents
• Efficiency for businesses: helping organisations verify their customers more reliably while reducing costs and friction.

To date, the project has completed proof-of-concept work, which made use of synthetic data to explore the technical, legal and operational requirements of a digital verification service. The next stage will involve a live pilot in a controlled real-world environment to further test the service and this is scheduled to take place in the coming months. UK Finance and the firms involved are working with Select ID, who are leading the technical design and delivery work.

This initiative is being undertaken separately to the government’s ongoing work on digital identity. The work is however aligned with the UK digital verification services trust framework and focuses on private sector commercial and retail use cases. It is not intended for public sector use cases, but rather would complement wider efforts to make services more effective through secure digital verification.

UK Finance would welcome expressions of interest from organisations interested in participating in future pilot activity or exploring how the service could support their customer journeys. This includes retailers, digital platforms, other organisations within the digital verification ecosystem, and businesses looking to streamline how they verify customers online.

Jana Mackintosh, managing director, payments and innovation at UK Finance, said: “The financial services sector is ideally placed to deliver a secure and trusted digital verification service. Using already verified information, shared only with the customer’s explicit consent, could help make digital transactions safer, quicker and more convenient as well as ensuring customers have full control over how their data is used.”

Nick Mothershaw, chief executive officer of Select ID, said: “We are pleased to support this industry initiative to explore how trusted, bank-verified information can be used to make digital verification more secure and convenient for customers and businesses.”