The Mobey Forum report identifies opportunities for banks to leverage their position as custodians of personal data to offer value-added digital identity wallets and become brokers of trust in the digital economy.

The association points to the success of banks in the Nordics and Canada in achieving high customer engagement in their respective BankID and Verified.Me systems.

Kevin Faragher, Interac, and co-chair of the Mobey Forum Expert Group, says: “Our research really underscores the important role that financial institutions can play. With people relying on digital identification and verification on an almost daily basis, issuing digital identity wallets will enable banks to better meet customers’ needs, stay relevant in their lives, and remove identity related pain points - providing issuing banks an opportunity to create competitive advantage and improve brand loyalty.”

The Expert Group’s research indicates, however, that banks don't need to fully provision a wallet for meaningful participation. Rather, financial institutions can start by creating the infrastructure that enables issuance and acceptance of Verifiable Credentials and stake a claim along the value chain according to their own business priorities.

“The growing need for trusted online identity is giving banks a chance to embed themselves more meaningfully in their customers' lives by providing related services,” comments Elina Mattila, executive director, Mobey Forum. “Building on their strong positions of trust, banks should act now to establish prominent roles in this space. This will mitigate their risk of disintermediation in a world where their core businesses are being perpetually challenged by market disruptors.”