Digital ID in Canada gets a jolt via Interac deal
08 January, 2020
category: Corporate, Digital ID, Financial, Government
Its a good workout for digital ID in Canada, as officials there plan to use the technology for everything from security to government services access to payments and commerce. Recent evidence of how those trends are playing out — and will continue to play out in the 2020s — comes from Interac Corp., one of the country’s leading financial and debit card brands, and a major player in Canada’s digital ID and online payment efforts.
Most Canadians attach more importance on protecting their identities online than protecting their money.
Interac recently bought a company called 2Keys, an Ottawa-based operation described in a statement as a “national leader in enabling secure digital experiences for Canadian governments, financial institutions and commercial clients.” The 100 or so employees who work for 2Keys will now work for Interac and, according to that company “play a critical role as Interac supports the future of digital ID and commerce by empowering Canadians to securely access and use their identity, data and money with confidence and convenience.”
Digital ID in Canada solves growing concerns
2Keys launched about 22 years ago, and its digital identity services, according to Interac, are used by more than 40 million users for some 4 million digital identity tasks every day. This acquisition comes amid fresh Interac research that found that 80 percent of Canadians have described “their identity as one of their most valuable assets.”
As well, 52 per cent of Canadians attached more importance to protecting their identities online than protecting their money. “Seven in ten Canadians also indicate they don’t have enough control over the use of personal and financial information online and include authentication amongst the most important factors of trusted technology,” the statement says, reflecting some of the larger trends and consumer attitudes when it comes to digital ID efforts in general.
Exactly what new digital ID initiatives would come from this acquisition wasn’t immediately clear. But the general outlines of what will happen next with digital ID in Canada are becoming much clearer. “Canadians told us they are ready for more convenient, digital options to manage their identity documents online and on their mobile devices,” said Debbie Gamble, Chief Innovation Labs and New Ventures Officer, Interac Corp. “They also indicated how important safeguarding their identity is, and that digital IDs must be secure and backed by trusted technology.”
