Onfido Testing Portable Identity Solution in UK

Onfido is testing a portable identity solution in conjunction with a group of FinTech partners that includes Monese, Seedrs, Curve, and B-Social. The regulatory sandbox test is being carried out in Britain as part of an FCA program that gives businesses the opportunity to pilot new ideas with real consumers. The FCA is the UK’s financial services regulator, while the test also lists Evernym and Deloitte as technology partners.  

The goal is to create an open world in which people have more control over their identities, providing everyone with a legal ID that can be accessed from a smartphone. That ID could then be used to gain access to any product or service, simplifying the onboarding process for customers and reducing the administrative burden on businesses that currently need to devote resources to compliance.  

Onfido is hoping that the pilot will demonstrate that such a system is viable and has direct benefits for the British tech economy. The company believes that cheap yet secure onboarding services will create jobs and generate more tax revenue for the government.

The solution would expand on Onfido’s existing onboarding technology, which matches a selfie against the picture on a photo ID. The company has provided selfie-based authentication for a slew of tech partners, including 2^nd Address, the messaging startup Nivo, and Civic’s cryptocurrency wallet.

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)