Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group and Santander will work with the organisation to create a simple and secure way for people to verify their personal details using their banking app.
UK Finance said many online processes still required customers to verify their identity more than once, sometimes through sharing multiple physical documents or pieces of information confirming a single detail, such as their age or address.
The service will be underpinned by the trust customers already have with banks and building societies and the relevant verified information, such as name, age or address, would be shared securely with a third party. Any future services would be voluntary and require consent from consumers, giving them control over how their data is used.
The organisation said this would allow for certain services to be accessed without sharing documents such as a passport or utility bills.
A proof-of-concept programme has already been completed, using synthetic data to explore what a digital verification service would require from a technical, legal and operational point of view.
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The next stage will involve a live pilot in a controlled real-world environment, expected to take place in the coming months.
While this is separate from the government’s work on digital identity, it will be aligned with the UK digital verification services trust framework.
UK Finance said it was open to the contribution of organisations in future pilot activity or exploring how the service could support their customer journeys.
Jana Mackintosh, managing director of payments and innovation at UK Finance, said: “The financial services sector is ideally placed to deliver a secure and trusted digital verification service.
“Using already verified information, shared only with the customer’s explicit consent, could help make digital transactions safer, quicker and more convenient, as well as ensuring customers have full control over how their data is used.”
Nick Mothershaw, CEO of Select ID, added: “We are pleased to support this industry initiative to explore how trusted, bank-verified information can be used to make digital verification more secure and convenient for customers and businesses.”
