Report Explores Digital Identity Success In The Nordics

What is an e-ID?
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An e-ID system is the digital counterpart to a physical identification method in the offline world such as a passport, ID-card or driver’s license. It provides the credentials necessary to trust that a person is who he/she claims to be online.

A new report launched by strategy advisors Arkwright examines the success of digital identity in the Nordics, and explores how other countries can learn from this model.

The report, federated e-IDs as a value driver in the banking sector based on experience from Nordic markets, shows that banks in the Nordics not only make use of re-usable digital identity but also become digital identity service providers, enabling digitalisation and new business models within the public and private sector. Using these providers, citizens and business users can access their services of choice quickly, easily and safely. With identity a key component of establishing mutual trust, there exists a multi-billion-dollar global market opportunity for those willing to take it.

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“There are many failed and failing digital identity schemes around the world, and a handful of successes that can be a blueprint for success.”

Frank Wunderlich, Director at Arkwright

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“Four of these successful digital identity schemes are close neighbours in the Nordics—it makes sense to examine these closely to discover what makes them tick and where they have learned from each other.”

Heido Gjersø Thaulow, Director at Arkwright

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Success factors & Benefits – experiences from the Nordics:
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• Cooperation of the largest banks: A large part of the population had already been authenticated by online banking.                                                                                                                              

• Reaching the critical mass in the two-sided market: Attractiveness of an e-ID solution increases for companies and consumers as the total number of participants increases.                                                                                                

• Modern technology: The e-ID solution has to be accessible at any time from any place supported by the latest technology in order to ensure high usage.                                                                                                                  

• As a consequence, commercial handling of contracts and business processing is positively affected by increased margins (as paper is redundant) and vastly decreased drop-out quota (as contracts are closed within minutes due to digital signing and authentication).                                                                                          

• Customer access (sales and service) is no subject to time any more – the offering becomes ubiquitous.

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