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Balancing convenience and security risks
In a highly-competitive economy, organisations face the challenge of balancing seamless, convenient customer experiences with the growing demands of regulatory compliance and fraud prevention. Traditional solutions commonly required sacrificing one for the other, with users increasingly choosing convenience over anything. Thankfully, the rising surge of digital credentials is offering better ways of balancing the convenience and security risks equation.
The market for digital credentials is advancing rapidly, with 15 U.S. states issuing millions of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) and large technology vendors integrating mDL capabilities into their products. These developments reflect the growing adoption and demand for secure, verifiable credentials.
This momentum leverages massive efforts of the standards community, which has spent the past decade investing millions of dollars and countless hours to lay the foundation for technologies like verifiable credentials (VCs), mDLs, and mobile documents (mDocs). This collaborative groundwork is now delivering tangible rewards, driving innovation and adoption at scale.
What was previously a niche is quickly becoming the new norm. It is no longer an “if” or a “when” - it is now. Digital credentials have arrived. Offering improved security and convenience, digital credentials are enabling businesses to convert more customers with higher levels of assurance, today.
The Business Case: More Than a Digital Copy
Digital credentials are not simply virtual versions of physical documents stored on an electronic device. They represent a fundamentally new way to conduct digital interactions. Unlike physical documents, digital credentials are instantly verifiable, portable, and tamper-resistant, providing unprecedented convenience and assurance.
For example, in financial services, customers can use a digital credential to verify their identity in seconds. They simply tap to share their information—securely and seamlessly—directly from their device, reducing wait times and creating a simple experience customers are likely to easily repeat.
Similarly, governments can transform citizen interactions by moving away from time-consuming, paper-based verification processes. Imagine renewing a driver’s license with a simple tap, without needing to fill out repetitive forms or mail in paperwork. Digital credentials provide a streamlined, high-assurance method that meets the public’s growing expectation for “tap-and-go” experiences.
From Revenue Growth to Fraud Reduction
Trust is the bedrock of customer relationships. The clearer and faster the interaction is, the more likely it is to convert users from prospective to paying customers. Digital credentials can influence three critical business outcomes:
- Conversion: By offering a smooth, tap-and-go experience, digital credentials lower barriers for customers. Whether it’s opening a new account, applying for a loan or accessing an online service, digital credentials speed up each step, improving conversion rates and creating opportunities to cross-sell or upsell services. With tap-to-authenticate simplicity, organisations can turn trust into tangible revenue growth.
- Modernization: Legacy verification processes involve a mix of paperwork, manual data entry, and human validation. Digital credentials automate these tasks, reducing operating costs and freeing up employees to focus on higher-value work. By shifting to modern systems that accommodate digital credentials, institutions save on infrastructure costs and eliminate inefficiencies that burden both the organization and the customer. The result? Greater efficiency across departments, fewer errors, and faster service delivery, all at a reduced cost.
This modernization not only streamlines operations but also provides a critical competitive edge. Businesses that adopt digital credentials early are positioned to offer faster, more secure, and more convenient services, setting themselves apart from competitors slower to act in this evolving landscape.
- Risk reduction: Digital credentials use cryptographic assurances and secure storage, making them much harder to forge or impersonate. Instead of relying on static information (such as ID numbers or birth dates), digital credentials offer a secure, verifiable source of identity, which greatly reduces the chances of fraud.
Additionally, digital credentials allow customers to only share the information needed, reducing the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) on file. This eliminates “honeypots” of sensitive data that can become targets for cybercriminals.
The Work and Value Behind Today’s Digital Credentials
The standards community has invested millions of dollars and countless hours in building the foundational frameworks for verifiable credentials. Since 2011, progress has been made toward standardising these technologies, which means organisations and governments don’t need to reinvent the wheel—they can now tap into a rich, established ecosystem of interoperable digital trust solutions.
Today’s digital credentials are interoperable across platforms, designed for scalability, and compliant with industry standards, enabling widespread adoption. Organisations that act now can leverage this ecosystem to unlock new capabilities, enhance security, and improve customer and citizen interactions.
Tap for Anything: Meeting Expectations
Consumers are increasingly accustomed to "tap-and-go" experiences and expect the same speed and convenience in every interaction. Digital credentials allow businesses to meet this expectation, creating a seamless experience that fosters trust and loyalty.
Imagine a world where verifying identity, granting access, or completing a transaction is as simple as a tap. Whether it’s accessing a bank account, confirming eligibility for a government benefit, or verifying identity, digital credentials empower users and organisations alike to perform these actions with unparalleled ease and security.
New Era of Opportunities
Digital credentials aren’t just a trend—they can lead a powerful strategy for growth, modernisation, and risk reduction. Digital credentials unlock value across sectors by creating a foundation of trust that’s portable, secure, and instantly verifiable. For those ready to harness it, the investment made by the standards community is now ripe for harvest, providing a clear path to monetization for both public and private sectors.
Whether in finance, government, or beyond, the ability to tap into this new trust layer will define the next generation of customer and citizen experiences. For organisations willing to invest, the returns are clear: more conversions, streamlined operations, reduced fraud, and a future-ready approach to security and user experience.
Are you ready to transform how you interact with your customers or citizens? It’s time to make digital credentials your most valuable asset.
