ISSA Digital Identity and Onboarding WG Defining the problem

The paper addresses the definition of the problems of DI&O and will be followed by a paper proposing solutions. ISSA welcomes any feedback on the paper and potential solutions.

ISSA’s Digital Identity and Onboarding Working Group (WG) was initiated as a result of discussions at the 2022 Symposium. ISSA Members highlighted that institutional client onboarding processes were inefficient and costly and should provide a much better experience for both the clients being onboarded and the institutions doing the onboarding. This is particularly pertinent now given overall advances in digital capability and the examples of Digital Identity adoption in other parts of the financial services industry (e.g.? ID Union in Germany for Trade Finance).

Whilst it was recognized that there had been several attempts to find solutions for this problem - some of which had invested substantial sums - the WG participants’ research showed that the problem had not been solved. Amongst these attempts there had also been several efforts led by other associations. ISSA is keen to understand the solutions identified so far and partner where these associations could see mutual benefits through a collaborative approach.

This report will explore the reasons that onboarding is inefficient, what underlies the complexity and why previous attempts to solve the issue have not been as successful as expected.

The report can be found here.