Five of the banks in Canada will be utilizing a blockchain based identification system built by a tech startup Securekey Technologies, as per the reports shared by Bloomberg on May 1.
Secure Technologies Inc's Verified.Me digital identity system is now accessible for customers of the five Canadian banks via a mobile app, the firm said in a statement. The latest system is available for Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Domination Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Desjardins Group. The service will soon be available for users of Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada, however, Sun Life Financial will finally be the first North American insurer to use the system.
Greg Wolfond, CEO of Secure Key, said that it is the longest work which he had ever worked on and it's a rigor which goes into the security. He adds that this is the best time to adopt a digital identity solution due to the threating cyber environment. With an increase in data breaches which directs to stolen passwords and hi-jacked credentials, various firms are losing faith in the identity of the customer.
Greg Elcich, vice president of enterprise innovation at CIBC said, the service is built not only to satisfy know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance standards but also to enhance customer convenience.
Verified.Me is built on the blockchain platform, made on the open source Hyperledger Fabric v1.2 and ensures to be suitable for various Hyperledger Projects.
The network is made on the partnership between banks, telecom firms, and credit agencies, and Securekey CEO Greg Wolfond said he wants Verified.Me to be utilized by customers to prove their identities to get health records, open accounts at banks as well as telephone companies, and obtain government services by the end of this year.
Greg Wolfond said,
"They’re going to be able to share their data in a secure and trusted way, which they never really could before."
The acceptance of the new financial system is mainly a part of the shift towards open banking, thus allowing customers to share their financial data with other companies, known as the Canadian Bankers Association.