Is this an iPhone moment for eIDs?

Last month Apple launched their Digital Credentials API and Identity Document Services framework. I believe this is one of the biggest signals yet that eIDs are going mainstream. 

Why do I say that?

Apple is showing they recognize that the market for wallet providers, who support government-issued eIDs, is going to explode. With Digital ID, Apple states, “Digital ID offers a secure and private new way for users to store and present their ID information using their iPhone and Apple Watch.” Through this, independent wallet providers are gaining powerful new tools to improve ID verification UX on Apple devices.  

The impact of developments like this, plus the proliferation of eIDs, is going to be huge on businesses who use age and ID verification in their KYC/AML processes. The impact on information exchange security, identity theft and business process automation will be huge! 

Of course, it’s not going to be simple.

While the user experience for eIDs and wallets is great, businesses generally lack the infrastructure to enable adoption of those tools into their processes. The KYC landscape has evolved to be incredibly fragmented, with:

• Multiple vendors
• Multiple governments adding government-issued eIDs 
• Multiple regulatory requirements across industries and geographies

And this is before we get into other challenges: AI-fraud, in the form of synthetic identities and deepfakes.

A quick sidenote

Which leads me to a quick sidenote on why businesses should not shy away from adopting eIDs. Already, some benefits businesses are seeing, include:

• Improved user experience, therefore lower drop-offs
• Faster verification processes and higher conversion rates
• Significantly reduced vulnerability to AI-fraud
• Enhanced privacy protection, therefore greater brand trust

My recommendations

As businesses consider how to adapt to factors advocating for eIDs, here is a checklist I recommend, when choosing solutions to bridge the gap between traditional methods and eIDs:

1. What are integration and implementation costs - in $$ and resource?
2. Who is managing ongoing maintenance requirements?
3. Are there operational efficiency gains, e.g., reducing the number of vendors?
4. Can the solution effectively reduce AI-related fraud?
5. How can the cost of customer acquisition be measured across verification methods?

There are companies innovating and working to help businesses adopt eIDs. Naturally, Authologic is my example, as we not only provide eIDs, but crucially, we facilitate the orchestration of traditional verification methods alongside them in our eID Hub. We also add value with analytics and maintaining compliance, but I won’t get into all that, here. 

One thing is undeniable: the next 18 months are going to be interesting!

*****

PS, for those who want to see the full Apple announcement, click here.