Editorial

Digital Identity: Global Roundup

Digital identity news from around the world

Posted 6 June 2022 by Christine Horton


United Arab Emirates

Nine out of 10 UAE bank account holders think opening a bank account takes too much time and that bank onboarding processes are too complicated. The findings are part of IDnow Middle East’s UAE digital identity proofing and verification report that surveyed over 1,000 people across the Emirates.

Other key discoveries from the public survey included that 82 percent of bank customers were unhappy with having to go to a branch and physically hand over documents. Meanwhile, 76 percent of UAE residents want an entirely digital bank account opening process, with that figure rising to 85 per cent amongst higher income groups. Among non-bank account holders, 86 percent said they had started a bank account application but quit the process because it was too complicated.

United Kingdom

The UK Cinema Association, representing the interests of the majority of UK cinema operators, has today announced a partnership with digital identity provider Yoti, with participating sites now accepting the Yoti digital ID app as proof of age.

Now participating cinemas will accept the Yoti digital ID app, giving young people aged from 13 upwards a safer, more convenient way to prove their age using their smartphone – meaning that important ID documents such as passports can now be left at home.

Yoti says the solution will also reduce the challenges many cinemas face in checking ages, as required by the current film classification system.

Global

The decentralized identity market size is projected to grow from $285 million in 2022 to $6,822 million by 2027, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 88.7 percent during the forecast period.

According to the research by MarketsandMarkets, the driving factors include rising instances of security breaches and identity related fraud, inefficiency of existing identity management practices and end user advantage of retaining full control over use of identities.

Global

Microsoft has announced the launch of Entra, a new product family of identity and access management solutions. The family includes existing tools like Azure AD alongside two new product categories: Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) and Decentralised Identity.

Entra is designed to protect access to any app or resource by enabling security teams to discover and manage permissions in multicloud environments so they can secure digital identities from end-to-end.

Qatar

A new Qatar Digital Identity app has been made available on Apple Store in an effort to digitalise services for the public.

The country’s Ministry of Interior says the new mobile application has various features for its first phase, including verifying digital identities, making services on the ministry’s website easily accessible, and stamping electronically issued documents.

The application is currently only available on Apple Store, but work is underway to include it on other platforms.

Spain

There has been a flurry of M&A in the industry, as per Biometric Update.

Spanish cybersecurity company Sia has announced the acquisition of fellow national Mobbeel, adding the latter’s biometric recognition technology into its portfolio.

Sia says the acquisition of the multimodal biometric authentication solutions provider will propel its growth strategy by strengthening its offerings and capabilities in the cybersecurity field. This will enable it to provide a more complete service to a client portfolio mostly comprised of international clients, it says.

A recent deployment of Mobbeel’s biometric identity authentication solutions is an app that enables a fully biometric passenger journey for a flight, from Barcelona to Malaga, with the low-cost carrier Vueling.

Hong Kong

CMMB Vision, a Hong Kong-based mobile data connectivity and digital TV broadcaster, has announced it purchased a majority equity interest in biometrics, AI, and IoT provider IITH, incorporating it as a subsidiary.

IITH is described as an AI and big data IoT hardware and software provider with applications in video analytics, facial recognition, and license plate recognition. The company served clients in Hong Kong and China, ranging from government agencies, non-government organizations, and the consumer and service sectors, according to an announcement.

United States

Cerberus Sentinel, a US cybersecurity consulting firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has acquired multimodal biometric company Creatrix to increase the range of its offerings.

The biometrics company is known for Biometrix, a face, fingerprint, iris, and voice identification and verification middleware. It also partnered with Spectrum Bullpen in March on a six-month contract to refine fingerprint biometrics held by the U.S. Department of Defense.

United Kingdom

Construction technology and biometrics company Causeway announced the acquisition of Yotta, an infrastructure management software company, from its owner Oxford Metrics.

Causeway says the buyout of Yotta is a step in its journey to digitise the construction and infrastructure asset maintenance process. The acquiring company says it will form an end-to-end solution that manages the entire asset management lifecycle for local authorities and contractors.

Oxford Metrics announced that the sale was made for a cash consideration of £52.0 million.

United Arab Emirates

Jumeirah Group, an UAE-based luxury hospitality company, has partnered with Incode Technologies, a provider of identity verification and authentication.

The partnership is designed to ensure privacy and security for the guests of the hotel or resort through digital and biometric technology. They will leverage the system’s personal recognition capabilities and connectivity to tailor the guest experience based on purchasing behaviour and stored personal preferences. The pair claims that in a matter of seconds, the automated identity verification engine validates the identity of a guest and associates them with a Jumeirah One account.

The partnership also offers an automated digital ID creation, meaning that a digital profile of each guest is automatically created from existing IDs and payment sources. The guests’ identity becomes the foundation for customising every interaction, on and off property.

United States

Mobile identity firm Incognia announced it raised $15.5 million in Series A funding led by Point72 Ventures.

Within 18 months of launching in the US Incognia says it is now protecting more than 200 million mobile users in more than 20 countries, and the new funding round will support Incognia’s continued growth. Incognia addresses the balancing act between friction and security for user authentication and fraud prevention on mobile applications, across industries including fintech, crypto, gaming, delivery and social.