European eID schemes provide 69 percent of ID information

According to “The Rise of Digital Identities” report, financial institutions are missing a vital link in the digital chain: onboarding. 40% of consumers have abandoned a bank sign up process because of the time and effort needed. This combined with the upcoming eIDAS regulation means that financial institutions need to be able to onboard customers 100% digitally.

In Belgium, for example, the eID covers all the necessary attributes but the scheme is only relevant in a consumer-to-government context. In The Netherlands, the bank-operated scheme offers the right coverage but, on its own, will not satisfy Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.

To fully verify a customer’s identity, financial institutions must supplement eID information from a variety of sources including national ID schemes, various digital assets and traditional ID documents such as passports. To succeed, institutions must plug the gaps and ensure they have access to the right information in the right geographies.

The paper was developed with research from Innopay, the payments, digital identity and e-business consultant. Innopay surveyed the onboarding landscape across Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK to look at KYC/AML requirements and how available eID schemes map to these requirements.