NAB has started to back the digital identity ecosystem ConnectID to support Australians to validate their identity across ecommerce, utilities, banking, and other services and boost protection against fraud. NAB worked closely with the newly-formed Australian Payments Plus (AP+) – a consolidation of domestic payment organisations BPAY, eftpos, and NPP Australia – and other banks on the ‘ConnectID’ digital identity solution.

Through ConnectID, NAB will play a critical role in the network as a trusted identity provider, verifying a customer’s identity with the customer’s consent whenever they need to validate their identity online. According to NAB’s Chief Digital, Data and Analytics Officer, NAB played an important role in the initiative, giving customers added protection and convenience when verifying their identity online. She declared that ConnectID gives customers full control to use only data that is absolutely necessary when completing identity verifications; they will be able to do things like digitally prove their age rather than passing over their driver’s license for the same purpose.

When signing up for a new mobile phone plan or another service, for example, identity data will only be accessed when a customer initiates a transaction, authenticates themselves using their regular banking login, and provides express consent. Using a digital identity would also help customers protect themselves from the ever-evolving threat of cybercrime. In online transactions, it will reportedly be easier to establish that the person you’re dealing with is whom they say they are, which minimises the chances of falling victim to online fraud, NAB declared.

NAB also sees ConnectID’s digital identity as providing important support for the business community in Australia. The same spokesperson declared that ‘businesses will see improved data quality with data verified directly from trusted parties such as a bank, lower costs in customer onboarding and identity verification across sectors, and manual processes replaced by digital convenience. This will have flow-on benefits in terms of more streamlined business operations and trust in the digital economy.

It will also reduce their risks from having to hold data that is in excess of what is required. ConnectID will begin commercial trials in late 2022, with all Australians to have access from mid-2023. .