Digital identities, identification and verification systems are at the heart of modern business and civil processes and form the core of the global trends of Internet of Things and customercentric service models.
The speed of interactions and the broad use of digital identities, for everything from complex, technical work to everyday shopping, will require biometrics as a key component to support seamless experience and interactions to verify the many different uses of people’s digital identities, says South African identity firm Ideco MD Marius Coetzee.
Eliminating identity and transaction fraud is one of the key reasons biometric identification is being adopted.
“We are approaching the mass adoption stage of the application of digital identifies across a wide range of industries,” says Coetzee.
Retail, financial services and banking, security and access control, the mobile telecommunications industry and mobile services leveraging mobile devices have pilot projects around digital identification and biometric technologies, he adds.
Companies in South Africa are aiming to reduce the challenges for customers, making the transaction process simpler and quicker, while improving security through identity verification using biometrics in conjunction with multiple layers of security checks such as one-time transaction codes and mobile authorisation processes.
Real TimeUsing identity to verify and authorise transactions in near-real-time across a large range of uses, including multiple user authorisations for sensitive transactions, will help to eliminate transaction fraud, as companies will understand the identities and, hence, the authenticity of users’ actions, adds Coetzee.
The Department of Home Affairs is working to update its systems, beyond the current identity smartcard initiative, to support more near-real-time verification applications and the authentication of user identities. It is crafting systems to support fingerprint, iris and facial recognition biometric systems, although there are additional types of biometric systems that will also be used, including voice for hands-free applications such as those used in connected cars and call centres.
Most companies will use in-house user identity databases in conjunction with formal, independent and/or statutory identity organisations, such as Home Affairs, to verify user identities quickly. An identity can also be independently verified by a range of companies involved in a transaction to improve the accuracy of verification processes.
“While sensitive transactions will be made more secure through identity verification, the main use of biometrics in digital identification and payment processes is to improve user experience and security simultaneously for everyday and smaller transactions.”
Retailers in South Africa are investigating the use of biometrics-based systems to serve customers individually and more efficiently, especially as retail multinationals – with significant digital service experience – aim to enter the country.