by Sikh for Truth | TruthTalk.UK

With the soon to be released EU’s digital ID wallet, European digital identity companies have agreed to form a new consortium to deliver cross-border digital payments.

The consortium is led by Nobid (Nordic-Baltic eID Project) and includes six countries (Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, and Norway). The consortium will collaborate with government agencies, banks, and technology providers to integrate digital payments and digital identity across borders.

One of the priorities of the EU’s digital ID wallet program is payments. By leveraging existing payment infrastructure, the implementation would enable payment issuance, instant payments, account-to-account transfers, and both in-store and online payment acceptance.

A digital wallet for the EU has been in development since mid-2021.

A biometrically secured EU digital identity wallet will allow citizens across the continent to verify their identities, access public and private services, and store sensitive digital documents in one place. The consortium’s proposal is one of four pilots for digital identity wallets in the EU.

This consortium project is designed to streamline cross-border payments, such as the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and the Digital Euro, yes, a CBDC.

Leaders in banking and payments have supported the project, including DSGV in Germany, DNB and BankID in Norway, Nets in Denmark, Intesa Sanpaolo, PagoPA and ABILab in Italy and Greiðsluveitan in Iceland.

Its technology partners include Thales, iProov, Signicat, RB, Auðkenni, IPZS, Poste Italiane, Intesi Group, InfoCert, FBK and Latvian State Radio and Television Centre.

“For the EU digital ID wallet to thrive, it needs a reference implementation that sets the bar high. The consortium has all the ingredients for success: multi-nation participation; extensive digital identity experience; a hugely compelling use case and the backing of the best in the banking and payments industry. We are hugely excited to turn the EU vision into a reality and make smoother, more readily available ID services possible for all.” – Tor Alvik, project manager of the consortium said.

Biometric Update reported this week that UK’s iProov, a digital identity provider, will contribute to the consortium by using facial and biometrics for the payment’s part of the new EU digital ID wallet.

According to the article, iProov has joined a consortium to participate in a pan-European payments pilot program using the EU Digital Wallet.

We are assuming iProov’s face biometric authentication will be used to secure onboarding and possibly payment transactions, it is unclear what its exact role will be. A face biometric authentication system was also used for the NHS Covid Vaccine Passport in the UK.

NOBID Consortium’s pilot is intended to be an extensive test of wallet issuance, payment means issuance through a financial institution, and payment acceptance.

“iProov is delighted to have contributed as a core team member in this consortium, which comprises so many distinguished digital identity experts,” said Andrew Bud, founder, and CEO of iProov.

“We are committed to its vision for an inclusive and secure way to help citizens make payments. The success of the EU Digital Identity Wallet will depend largely on citizen adoption and usage. iProov provides simple and secure remote enrolment and authentication, which will be crucial to this goal.”

Of the new project: “Digital payments have been part of the daily life of Norwegians for years. Leveraging our experience and expertise in this area makes a strong foundation for carrying out a large-scale pilot of the payment use case and the EU Digital Wallet.” – Steffen Sutorius, Director of the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency said.

The announcement of a digital identity and wallet may be linked to a decision on a digital euro. Over the past 12 months, EU leaders have openly and frequently discussed CBDC, with leaders highlighting the importance of a digital identity for a successful digital euro.

“Digitalisation of services is vital for all EU banks, and its importance has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. The adoption of the EU digital ID wallet will accelerate the digitisation of the banks.”Wrote Oana Ifrim from Voice of the industry in 2021.

In June 2021 Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president for a Europe fit for the digital age said: “The European digital identity will enable us to do in any Member State as we do at home without any extra cost and fewer hurdles. Be that renting a flat or opening a bank account outside of our home country. And do this in a way that is secure and transparent. So that we will decide how much information we wish to share about ourselves, with whom and for what purpose.”

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