The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) has launched Identity Exchange, a digital identity platform intended to streamline business identity verification and trade compliance processes across the container shipping ecosystem. The service provides a single gateway to verified company data that can be consumed through a web interface or APIs and integrated into automated onboarding and due diligence workflows.
Identity Exchange aggregates data from public and commercial sources, including Dun & Bradstreet, EU VIES, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), and EU EORI registries. Queries are routed to the most reliable source depending on the jurisdiction, data type, and quality, with outputs standardized to support know your business checks, sanctions screening, and other compliance functions. Pilot deployments with carriers and freight forwarders have reportedly run tens of thousands of checks, with reported match rates above 85 percent in early testing and a later claimed success rate of 95 percent for delivery of verified company data as the product matured.
DCSA frames Identity Exchange as its first commercial product and as part of a larger effort to provide the digital infrastructure and standards needed for large-scale digitalization of container trade. The association says revenue from the platform will be reinvested into its non-profit standards work. The service is available immediately via both user interface and API, and DCSA is offering a limited trial period for organizations that want to assess the tool.
For organizations that rely on complex networks of partners, especially in shipping and logistics, business identity verification is a persistent bottleneck and a source of risk. Each new relationship can trigger repeated document gathering and manual checks across multiple databases. DCSA’s Identity Exchange aims to reduce those manual steps, improve data quality, and accelerate onboarding while providing a consistent set of identity attributes that can be integrated with internal risk engines, access control systems, and trade compliance platforms.
If broadly adopted, the platform could become a reference source of verified business identities for shipping stakeholders, banks, and insurers, giving security and compliance teams a more efficient way to validate counterparties and reduce exposure to fraud, sanctions violations, and documentation errors.
Sources: DCSA Newsroom, DCSA Identity Exchange, Smart Maritime Network, Port Technology
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
