New global research from Jumio reveals preferences around use of digital identity across financial services, healthcare, social media sites and more

Jumio, the leading provider of orchestrated end-to-end identity proofing, eKYC and AML solutions, released the findings of its global research conducted by Opinium, which shows the impact of the increasing use of digital identity on consumer preferences and expectations.

The research questioned 8,000 adult consumers split evenly across Singapore, the UK, U.S. and Mexico. Singapore stands out as a country where digital identity is used the most. On average, Singaporeans access 12 online accounts each week — which is the highest compared to other countries — and 70% have to use their digital identity “constantly” or “often” to access online accounts.

The research found that Singaporeans think financial services (63%) is the most important industry to use a digital identity, followed by healthcare (54%) — arguably the sectors whereby the most sensitive personal information is shared. Overall, 84% of Singaporeans agree that they trust companies who complete identity checks to handle their personal information securely when signing up for an account. Nevertheless, 49% of Singaporeans abandon the online process when it becomes too complicated.

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“As our use of online services only continues to grow, organizations are clearly implementing the robust identity verification methods required to prevent against the risks associated with virtual services”

Demand for digital identity as a form of verification

As providing a digital identity to create an online account or complete a transaction becomes more commonplace globally, consumers are now expecting this as part of their engagement with a brand, specifically in certain sectors. Over two-thirds of consumers (68%) think it’s important to use a digital identity to prove who they say they are when using a financial service online, closely followed by healthcare providers (52%) and social media sites (42%). While all markets were united in financial services being the most important sector for robust identity verification, consumers in Mexico believe it is an important step when interacting with sharing economy brands (49%). UK consumers believe it should be required when shopping online (40%). Where more sensitive personal data is concerned, consumers indicated robust identity verification becomes even more important.

Leaders and laggards: certain sectors need to enhance their usage of digital identity

Despite more consumers demanding digital identity solutions for verification when engaging with companies online, they aren’t confident that all businesses are doing everything they can to protect their online accounts. Only one-third (34%) of consumers believe that their bank has implemented more online identity verification checks since the pandemic to protect them against online fraud and identity theft. Similarly, in the gaming and gambling space, only a small percentage more (41%) say they are “confident” that providers are doing what they can to accurately verify identities and prevent identity-related fraud.

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Online identity verification can improve trust in service providers and social platforms

While digital identity solutions are recognized as important in preventing identity-related fraud, consumers have other concerns that these solutions could address. In healthcare, one-third of consumers (32%) are most concerned about not knowing the identity of the healthcare practitioner they are engaging with. This is also of particular concern for consumers in Mexico (45%). In the social media space, an overwhelming majority of consumers (83%) think that it’s important for social media sites to verify identities so that they can hold users accountable for online hate speech/comments. As such, the use cases and benefits of digital identity extend beyond just fraud prevention and could provide a solution to broader consumer concerns.

“As our use of online services only continues to grow, organizations are clearly implementing the robust identity verification methods required to prevent against the risks associated with virtual services,” said Philipp Pointner, Jumio’s Chief of Digital Identity. “But this research reveals the demand for digital identity solutions, too – particularly in the financial services and healthcare spaces – and is clearly now a point of differentiation. Implementing these kinds of solutions should be a ‘when,’ not a ‘maybe,’ and will now ultimately determine whether a consumer chooses your business over another.”