Some of us remember the days when many cases, both business and official, could only be dealt with in person by affixing a handwritten signature to paper documents and confirming identity by showing an identity card to an official. Nowadays, it is difficult to find situations in which it is impossible to use remote services. For example, in banks.
Nowadays, Poles carry out most financial operations via the Internet, using a mobile application, instead of visiting a branch. There is no doubt that remote access is convenient and secure and that developments in technology will free us entirely from the need to deal with isues face-to-face. Although not all sectors of the economy are one hundred per cent ready for a completely remote service anymore, and many offices require petitioners to visit their offices, the process of switching to online errands is unstoppable.
The leaders are financial services, which have been at the forefront of using modern technology to improve customer service for many years. Today, banks are using digital solutions to confirm identity, verify financial standing, as well as to conclude account opening agreements or grant credit. The advantages of digitisation in the banking sector are so great that state institutions are using these solutions to develop "the e-state" concept. Ultimately, all contacts with state and local government institutions can take place securely and conveniently remotely, thanks to reliable confirmation of a citizen's identity.
Also, many service providers, e.g. telecommunications companies and energy suppliers, use banks to identify their customers by confirming their identity with the mojeID (myID) service. For years, thanks to this cooperation, Poles have been able to easily, through e-banking, create, for example, a trusted profile - a type of digital identity necessary for electronic contacts with a number of state authorities.
The digitisation trend is also supported by various regulations, both at the national and European levels. Recently in Poland, the digital identity card, or mObywatel application, was equated with the traditional plastic identity card.
Most relevant to the development of a trusted digital identity based on security and banking procedures are European regulations, especially the PSD2 directive, which relates to open banking. With the implementation of PSD2, bank customers are able to use their bank-collected data in many other matters, in a secure and legally protected way. With an adequate degree of protection for their data, both personal and financial.
Paying bills online, based on an electronic invoice, setting up a trusted profile respected by government offices and institutions, submitting digital applications for social benefits, opening an account in a new bank - this is what we most often use secure bank access, regulated by open-banking regulations. Solutions of this type have been in place in Poland for several years and in that time have proven to be convenient, secure and reliable. Therefore, customers have no fear of using open banking and accept its subsequent applications. Many of these are based on digital identity proofing, enabling customers to be quickly registered (known as onboarding) and offered beneficial services. Furthermore, during this process, financial institutions can make a reliable assessment of the customer's financial situation in order to offer an appropriate credit offer right away.
For this reason, leading digital identity verification providers such as AIS Gateway and Digital Gateways are consistently expanding their range of services. As a result, customers do not have to visit points of sale or provide paper documents, instead, they conveniently and quickly get access to offers, services and products tailored to them.
Today, thanks to the solutions provided by such providers, companies in many sectors offer individual customers instant service and product sales. Thus, loan companies provide loans online and via smartphone, combining convenience and security through digital identity confirmation technology.
Similarly, it is possible to order various subscription services such as home internet, confirm one's identity without visiting an office, etc. With new applications emerging all the time, digital customer registration is now present almost everywhere.
To enable smooth processes, companies use a whole suite of digital identity services. Verification can include customer data, confirming the validity of their documents, and checking in external databases in the context of ID theft or money laundering, for example. Such a combination of electronic identity verification, trusted profile and digital products offered by Digital Gateways makes everyday life easier, saves time for customers, and allows companies to optimally offer their services in electronic channels.
Some providers offer as a package the possibility to launch and use qualified electronic signatures or advanced electronic signatures; Digital Gateways, for example, offers such a service in accordance with the eIDAS regulation. This is just one element of Digital Gateways' full-scale offering in this area. The company offers a whole range of related services, including multi-directional identity proofing based on, for example: biometric video verification and OCR of a document, or reading the electronic layer of a document or bank verification. A business-critical complement is the verification of the customer's financial situation and, for lenders, banks and other service providers, in-depth verifications in external databases to prevent money laundering (AML).