Secure identity verification has become essential for financial services, and the number of tools on the market is rising. Select ID, led by CEO Nick Mothershaw, offers a platform that provides financial institutions with access to a marketplace of digital identity providers, set to roll out next month.
Since its inception in May, Mothershaw tells Biometric Update that Select ID has been developing a tool that adheres to strict regulatory standards while fostering user convenience and security. With support from the financial services sector, including backers like Visa, Northern Trust, and Barclays, Select ID is, essentially, aiming to expand the pool of digital identity solutions available to users and relying parties via a scalable platform.
Marketplace for digital IDs with user choice at the core
Select ID’s marketplace is designed as a “one-stop shop” for financial services, giving institutions access to multiple reusable digital identity providers under a single contract. Mothershaw says that the setup allows financial institutions to verify user identities with ease, meeting the highest compliance standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and the UK’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF). “Through us, financial service providers gain access to a marketplace of multiple ID providers that meet the required regulatory guidelines,” Mothershaw explains.
But Select ID’s approach goes beyond compliance – it prioritizes user choice and usability. By enabling users to select an identity provider and reuse their digital ID across various sectors, SelectID is focusing on a user-centered model. Initially for financial services, Mothershaw envisions expanding these reusable digital identities for employment verification, property rentals, and age verification.
The three Cs of Select ID
Select ID’s model rests on what Mothershaw calls the “three Cs”: compliance, contract, and connections. The company aims to ensure that all identity providers in its marketplace adhere to the DIATF and AML guidelines.
“We’ve got a set of compliant parties. But if there are multiple providers, because there are going to be reusable IDs, end users are going to make that choice based on the brand or features. The financial services provider is going to need to get at multiple providers. So the next thing we do is provide a single contract,” says Mothershaw.
With a single contract, financial institutions are set to gain access to all marketplace-approved identity providers.
“We do all the due diligence to make sure they are fit for purpose for financial services, and then enable a financial services firm to contract with us, to contract with multiple identity providers who are essentially subcontractors to us from a contractual point of view,” he continues.
Another component is ensuring that identity verification data is delivered uniformly to financial institutions.
“Consistent connections is the third area that means that we are able to ensure that all of those identity providers connect in a consistent and trusted way to the financial services firm and deliver all the proofing evidence back to them in a consistent way as well,” he adds.
Progress and upcoming launch
Since securing funding in May, Select ID has moved forward with developing and deploying its platform, with the first customers expected before year-end. “We’ve finished all our build. We’ve deployed our marketplace. We are now onboarding identity providers into that marketplace, and as soon as we’ve done that with three of them, we’ll be bringing our first customer into the marketplace to connect them to those three providers. We’re hoping that that will be before Christmas,” Mothershaw says.
As the marketplace grows, Select ID envisions millions of reusable digital IDs circulating within the next few years.
SelectID’s marketplace is part of a broader initiative led by The Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA), which aims to create a trusted and inclusive digital identity scheme within the UK. TISA, a respected voice in the financial services industry, has backed the Select ID scheme as a key player in advancing digital identity. By launching Select ID, TISA hopes to establish a trusted digital ID platform that enables compliant customer onboarding across financial institutions.
The company’s high compliance standards open the door to diverse applications beyond financial services. By using identity verification processes built to meet stringent financial standards, SelectID aims to let users apply their digital ID to multiple services. As Mothershaw explains, “There was something which was part of the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework called a supplementary scheme. We were going to create one of those financial services. We no longer need to do that because that is now going to be done quite often here in the Office of Digital Identity and Attributes.
“What we will do is share the rules we have created openly, we’re going to do that in January, as a basis for that supplementary code that will then be used for financial services across the UK as a good practice when using digital identity.”
By January 2025, the company plans to publish its compliance guidelines, making them accessible to other industry players. Originally created to govern Select ID’s marketplace, these guidelines will soon be available as an open-source resource, advancing best practices for digital identity verification across the financial services sector.
Article Topics
DIATF certification | digital identity | financial services | identity verification | Select ID | The Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA) | UK
