November 8, 2021, London: A piece of original survey-based research conducted by RegTech Associates on behalf of PassFort, the SaaS RegTech provider, whose platform automates financial crime and compliance processes, has revealed two-thirds of Brits feel indifferent about a common digital identity. Only 17% of respondents stated they are very much in favour of it, while occupying the middle ground, 34% said they are cautiously in favour and 31% were sceptical about it. At the other end of the scale, 6% stated they are very much against a common digital identity.
While the UK Government consultation on the common digital identity concluded in September 2021 with an updated framework, only 15% of Brits feel well informed on it. In contrast, 52% of respondents said they were either not well informed or knew nothing about the issues surrounding it. Younger respondents are the best informed when it comes to the debate around digital identity though – 36% regard themselves as “well informed” vs. only 1% of over-65s.
The intention of the framework is to provide clear standards to protect against digital identity fraud and remove legislative and regulatory barriers from the use of secure digital identities. However, 19% of over-65s claimed they “know nothing” about the debate in comparison to only 5% of 18-24s. Evidently, there is a lot of room here to educate the general public on these issues.
“Currently, in banking we see 7 in 10 people using a unique ID and password for identification. Some 67% use a security question. While these methods have worked well in the past, there are limitations to the security these techniques provide. Biometrics, or a digital identity, provide a higher level of security. Interestingly, 21% of people we surveyed have used biometrics. And of those who have, 80% said the experience was ‘great’,” said Donald Gillies, CEO PassFort.
In an increasingly complex compliance landscape, the common digital identity offers huge benefits to financial institutions in delivering better, faster, and more reliable checks for consumers. The research also shows that customers who feel they have had a better than expected experience of compliance onboarding were more likely to recommend their provider (77%) and more likely to buy more products (62%).
A stable 27-37% of respondents of all ages claim to know something of the UK digital identity debate, indicating some level of generalised understanding about the issues. With the exception of some minor variations (e.g., a spike in 35-44 year olds who “don’t know” or prefer not to share their views), there are no strong correlations between age and attitude towards a common UK digital identity. Similarly, with fewer than one quarter (23%) of respondents stating a strong view on the topic, there is some way to go before the debate is settled.
“Given the obvious benefits of a common digital identity in fighting fraud, financial institutions have a vested interest in helping to explain these issues to their customers”, said Rob Stubbs, Head of Research at RegTech Associates. “Not only could this help to stem the rising tide of financial crime in the UK but, in conjunction with the latest developments in biometrics, it can also help to deliver better, faster and more reliable compliance checks for consumers, which is in everyone’s interest.”
“Biometric identification needs to be managed and regulated and carefully controlled,” said David Birch, author and leading advisor on digital financial services. “I sign up for things all the time and it gets to the point where I have to get this document, or that, and I think ‘Oh I can’t be bothered’. But if I just need to scan my passport and take a picture then that’s easy. However, that’s in the context of a well-regulated and well managed space in finance. We’re not talking about mass surveillance. And that’s what consumers need to be able to understand, and it’s something that financial providers have a duty to help educate people on.”
“Financial providers have a great opportunity to lead the conversation on digital identification and in the process secure crucial loyalty and trust from consumers. As we move into 2022 this conversation is going to become increasingly important and it’ll be the organisations that act now, who will reap the rewards in the long term,” finished Gillies.
PassFort’s latest research report: KYC experience – driving customer loyalty, advocacy and new business – is available to download now. Get your copy of the report here.
About PassFort
Founded in 2015 by Donald Gillies and Henry Irish and headquartered in London, PassFort has supported regulated financial services companies to rapidly onboard more than 5 million customers in 197 countries, then manage risk and compliance standards throughout the customer lifecycle.
Born in the cloud, PassFort’s solutions are designed for the digital economy: hardware-free, affordable, flexible to configure and easy to use, with constant feature innovation and a choice of deployment options. Our low to no-code solution thrives on complexity, solving compliance challenges at scale without being costly to implement or evolve. We support multiple customer types and product lines, with effortless expansion across 211 jurisdictions.
PassFort removes the compromise between compliance and customer experience in the fight against financial crime. More efficiency. Great customer experiences. No compromise.
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About RegTech Associates
RegTech Associates is a research company using its analysis to provide strategic insight and advice to RegTech vendors, regulated institutions and global industry bodies. We bring all sides of the market together to help vendors grow and regulated firms manage compliance more effectively.
Founded in 2017, RegTech Associates is a privately held company based in London. Our experienced team has extensive industry and regulatory knowledge and often collaborates with leading regulators to foster dialogue and industry collaborations. RegTech Associates are also the creators of Radar, the go-to platform for professionals working in legal, risk, or compliance. The digital platform houses thousands of data points for over 1,300 products, an enriched and researched-backed insights library, and a curated industry news feed.
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