Entrust is venturing into the travel industry with the launch of a new digital travel credential.
Entrust notes that the travel and tourism industry is currently doing everything it can to increase safety and reduce friction for travellers.
The firm says the Seamless Travel Solution enables “a touchless and seamless experience” for travellers by minimising contact points. It also brings simplicity and greater security for border control, immigration and travel service provider operations.
The announcement follows the acquisition of WorldReach Software in April 2021, combining the identity and data protection portfolio of Entrust with the expertise from WorldReach in digital identity verification and onboarding.
The new Entrust solution enables an integrated solution to facilitate citizen engagement, digital onboarding, adaptive credentialing and risk-based flow control to the travel continuum.
“As citizens of the world begin to travel again, now is the perfect time to bring this solution to the market,” said Gordon Wilson, VP Identity Verification at Entrust. “We are confident that the Seamless Travel Solution will help launch the world into a new era of travel, allowing travellers to feel safer and experience less hassle, while also enabling operational efficiency to both border agencies and the entire travel industry through digital transformation.”
Targeted at airlines, train operators, cruise lines, airports, border agencies, and other key operators in the global travel and tourism ecosystem, the Entrust Seamless Travel Solution promises to eliminate the need for travellers to present travel-related documents such as boarding and passports multiple times to a variety of stakeholders at different checkpoints in their journey.
Rather, travellers opting in will experience less hassle due to the solution’s implementation of contactless biometric corridors that employ facial recognition technology to confirm their identity, removing friction from touchpoints.
This new solution will soon be piloted in the UK by Eurostar. Working with partner iProov, Entrust’s remote identification capability will allow future Eurostar passengers to register their face and passport before travel. On arrival at St. Pancras International train station, passengers will use only their face to check in for their train and their passport data will be automatically sent to UK border force to exit check.
Helena Bononi, VP Americas of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) described the launch and similar initiatives focusing on seamless travel as “welcome additions to all current efforts.”
Value to governments and public
TLScontact, a provider of visa and consular services for governments around the world, is incorporating the Entrust solution into its offering.
“TLScontact brings seamless, secure and increasingly digital application processing experience to a wide range of visa and consular services on behalf of governments across the world.” said Simon Peachey, chief sales officer for TLScontact. “Entrust capabilities in remote identity verification and digital travel credentials offer significant value both to our government clients and the travelling public.”
Gatekeeper Intelligent Security, which provides inspection and recognition solutions at the border, integrates Entrust digital identity verification into its border recognition systems.
“We are committed to developing innovative solutions that augment human ability to perform security functions rapidly and accurately,” said Colin Brown, VP, global sales & operations at Gatekeeper.
He said the company was teaming with Entrust to enable drivers and passengers to submit biometrically secured identity data before travel or en route.
“When coupled with Gatekeeper’s border recognition systems, the result is a world-leading, automated, drive-through border solution,” he said.
Entrust says the Seamless Travel Solution follows all GDPR regulations, does not retain personally identifiable information and encrypts all data in transit and at rest for user security. Each traveller using the service receives the option to store their Digital Travel Credential on their personal mobile device, but this is not required.