The City of London Corporation is asking technology firms to help shape a Digital Verification Orchestrator model for financial services, with industry input due May 14.
The proposed system would act as a voluntary orchestration layer connecting identity providers with banks and other financial services firms that need identity checks. Under the model, a person would verify identity once with a trusted provider and then reuse that verification across participating institutions through secure data transmission.
The Corporation said the orchestrator would not operate as a data store, a regulator, or a quality-assurance authority for data attributes. Its expected functions include setting minimum standards, enabling resilient data transfer, coordinating trusted verification flows, and supporting non-discriminatory participation by identity providers and relying parties.
The initiative is being developed around the UK’s Digital Verification Services Trust Framework, which sets rules for providers of digital identity and attribute services. It targets high-value financial services use cases including KYC onboarding, access to credit, ongoing verification for fraud reduction, and portability of verified information across institutions.
The City of London Corporation estimates that a successful verification system could unlock nearly 5 billion pounds in benefits over five years through fraud prevention and digital modernization. The organization also serves as police authority for the City of London Police, which leads the UK’s national policing response on fraud, cyber, and economic crime.
The call follows UK policy work around fraud reduction and mandatory director identity verification, as well as continuing debate over digital ID risks and benefits. The current request is not a procurement process and does not ask companies for pricing, but responses may inform a blueprint for the DVO model.
The call for input is aimed at firms that can demonstrate existing capability rather than at vendors seeking a defined contract. Respondents are being asked to inform the blueprint and show whether the market can support an independent orchestration role. That approach gives the City Corporation and its working group a way to test governance, interoperability, and trust-framework assumptions before any operational service is selected.
Sources: City of London Corporation
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
