Deutsche Bank leads charge for pan-industry e-identity platform
Deutsche Bank and a variety of German and European companies have teamed up to establish a joint, pan-industry platform for online registration, e-identity and data services.
The initiative was set up by the bank, Allianz, Axel Springer, Daimler, Postbank, technology think tank Core, and location services provider Here Technologies. Their aim is to “make online registration simpler and more secure for clients” and they have signed a corresponding declaration of intent.
Christian Sewing, deputy CEO of Deutsche Bank, says: “We Europeans must at last fully play out our strengths in digitalisation. The time is ripe for a platform initiative of this kind. It will increase legal certainty for clients and boost the European digital economy’s growth.”
At the heart of their new access procedure for online activities is a “master key”. Clients can use this key for registration and identification purposes across a number of industries. Deutsche says this is not only more convenient, but also more secure. The platform complies with EU data protection reforms and adheres to the provisions of the eIDAS regulation, which governs trust services for the electronic identification (eID) function.
The platform is designed to be “open and compatible” with ongoing projects managed by authorities under the German government and German federal states, such as at local government level, for example, for citizen portals.
Deutsche says additional functions may follow, for instance, digital access to public authorities (e-government). Moreover, developing digital payment services and digital financial services is also possible on the platform.
The players are looking to gain more partners from a number of different sectors outside fintech in the short term, including aviation companies, e-commerce agents, retailers and telecommunications companies. Preliminary negotiations are already under way with several unnamed companies that have shown interest in the platform. Among others, talks with Deutsche Telekom about joining the project have commenced recently.
In the coming weeks, the initiators will finalise the details of their collaboration and set a launch date for the platform, before submitting their plan to the competition authorities for regulatory approval.
