Digital Trust: How Banks Can Secure Our Digital Identity

Just a few weeks ago, I published a Celent report on Customer Identity Management Today and Tomorrow, summarising findings from the interviews with banks in Europe and the US. One of those findings was that banks are keen to remain "priviliged actors" in digital identity. A new report released yesterday by Oliver Wyman in partnership with the International Banking Federation, Digital Trust: How Banks Can Secure Our Digital Identity, outlines what it might take for banks to achieve that objective.

Digital identity schemes are already emerging in various countries and are expected to be in place in most markets in the next 2-5 years. However, the question remains about who will own and operate the infrastructure required by digital identity – governments, banks, telco, payment providers or big tech. There is much left to be determined around who pays, data privacy, user sovereignty, governance, and global interoperability.

The report shows that banks are in a good position to provide digital identity schemes that protect consumers, as highly regulated institutions with experience protecting personal data and mitigating its use by criminals. It outlines how banks now need to decide what part to play in the evolving digital identity ecosystem: what role to adopt, what use cases to pursue, decisions on technology investment, collaboration and governance, and agreeing timelines.

Such studies are inevitably a team effort, and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the report. As Ted Moynihan, Managing Partner at Oliver Wyman, writes in his foreword, "digital identity will not only change how we live but be part of a new era in banking. [...] If banks are to maintain their relevance in the digital world, it is essential that they play a key role in this transformation." Following the recommendations outlined in this report would be a great starting point for banks and policymakers.