Better Identity Coalition Praises U.S. Department of the Treasury Report Calling for New Digital Identity Initiatives ​​​​​​​

WASHINGTON — The Better Identity Coalition, an organization focused on promoting the development and adoption of better solutions for identity verification and authentication, hailed the release of a new Department of Treasury report that highlights the importance of better digital identity to enabling more secure and innovative financial services.

The Treasury department made three key recommendations around digital identity in its report released yesterday entitled, “A Financial System that Creates Economic Opportunities: Nonbank Financials, Fintech and Innovation”:

Treasury recommends that financial regulators work with Treasury to enhance public-private partnerships to identify ways government can eliminate unintended or unnecessary regulatory and other barriers and facilitate the adoption of trustworthy digital legal identity products and services in the financial services sector. Treasury also recognizes that the development of digital legal identity products and services in the financial services sector should be implemented in a manner that is compatible with solutions developed across other sectors of the U.S. economy and government.

Treasury supports the efforts of the Office of Management and Budget to fully implement the long-delayed U.S. government federated digital identity system. Treasury recommends policies that would restore a public-private partnership model to create an interoperable digital identity infrastructure and identity solutions that comply with NIST guidelines and would reinvigorate the role of U.S. government-certified private sector identity providers, promoting consumer choice and supporting a competitive digital identity marketplace.

Treasury encourages public and private stakeholders to explore ways to leverage the REAL ID Act driver’s license regime — particularly, robust state REAL ID license identity proofing processes — to provide trustworthy digital identity products and services for the financial sector. (pg. 44)

In a report released July 19 titled “Better Identity in America: A Blueprint for Policymakers,” the coalition outlined a comprehensive policy agenda for improving the privacy and security of digital identity solutions. Specifically, the coalition recommended that the Department of the Treasury explore how government policy can drive the adoption of more resilient digital identity solutions across the financial services market with a focus on reducing fraud, enabling innovation in financial services, and promoting financial inclusion.  The coalition also recommended that state DMVs be leveraged to address marketplace challenges with legacy identity proofing and verification systems. 

“The coalition is pleased to see the Treasury Department has issued recommendations that align with our Policy Blueprint,” said Jeremy Grant, coordinator of the Better Identity Coalition. "We look forward to working closely with Treasury to enable the delivery of more secure, convenient and privacy-preserving financial services to millions of Americans.”

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The Better Identity Coalition is an organization of leading businesses focused on developing and advancing consensus-driven, cross-sector policy initiatives that promote the development and adoption of better solutions for identity verification and authentication. The coalition was launched in February 2018 by the Center for Cybersecurity Policy and Law, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting education and collaboration with policymakers on policies related to cybersecurity. 

Coalition members include Aetna, Bank of America, Citigroup, IDEMIA, JPMorgan Chase, Kabbage, Mastercard, Onfido, PNC Bank, Symantec, US Bank, Visa and Wells Fargo.