The leader of the body that represents Canada’s banks is calling for a modernization of identity security to fit with the realities of the digitalized world.
The Canadian Bankers Association president and CEO Neil Parmenter says that while technology is seeing rapid changes including digitalization, the systems we use to prove identity are stuck in the analogue world of the past.
Writing for Policy Options Politiques, Parmenter says that we still reply on presenting physical documents in the multiple transactions we make everyday with public services, businesses, and each other.
He warns that these systems are outdated and open to fraud; such as the use of drivers’ licences and utility bills which can be forged.
Added to this risk is the inconvenience of requiring a physical presence, especially for those in remote communities or with mobility issues. And then there is the impact on transaction speed.
“The Canadian banking sector is ideally situated to underpin a digital ID system that will revolutionize the way we use personal data to interact with the world,” Parmenter writes.
However, a move to digital should not mean more passwords. Parmenter says that Canada’s bankers need to adopt to fingerprint and facial recognition solutions.
The CBA is calling for a federated model of digital ID which would be more efficient that the current systems where federal and provincial agencies each hold only some of users’ information that can be used for identification.
Parmenter says that banks should be part of driving this forward as they already have robust, interconnected systems.
