Episode 164: HID Global offers Government Issued Credentials webinar
06 July, 2017
category: Biometrics, Digital ID, Government
The eventual demise of the plastic card seems inevitable to many working with government issued credentials, thanks to the security and convenience of mobile as an ID. But will mobile be a replacement or a complement? In this podcast, we explore this question and preview a webinar that delves deep into the topic of co-existence.
“Mobile is already actually replacing physical cards entirely in certain domains,” says Dominic Tavassoli, VP of Products and Secure Issuance Solutions at HID Global. “I can’t carry around a thousand cards, but just having one app completely replaces the need for all of them.”
One easy example of physical cards and mobile working in tandem is the multiple levels of authentication they could bring where you could show a physical card, but also have the mobile app that can provide some sort of biometric verification
HID Global, a secure ID solutions provider, has been hearing questions from clients about whether the plastic card is dead. It’s more likely, says HID Global’s Steve Warne, that mobile and cards will work in harmony, at least for the foreseeable future.
“I think ultimately the mobile scenario will replace the physical document or the physical credential. But I think that’s going to be a long time coming,” says Warne, Director of Solutions Marketing with the company’s Government ID Solutions unit. “There are so many issues – around standardization, around security, around evaluation – that will take many years in my opinion, depending on which sort of document you’re talking about but particularly for things like national ID and passport.”
But Tavassoli sees lots of uses for physical and mobile to work in tandem. “One easy example is just the multiple levels of authentication they could bring where you could show a physical card, but also have the mobile app that can provide some sort of biometric verification; or one can be a backup for another,” Tavassoli says. “You can also completely see having one give you a level of online authentication that would complement your physical card.”
HID Global’s experience with physical access control has led the company to a new credential issuance on mobile devices.
“People wanted to start to use their physical access control badge to do other things – maybe to get into their computer, maybe to use a vending machine in a canteen or to take a library book out,” Warne says. “So we quickly realized that identity wasn’t just about getting in and out of things. It was about being able to use the same technology to perform multiple tasks.”
To hear more from HID Global’s Dominic Tavassoli and Steve Warne, check out this podcast and listen to our webinar on Government Issued Credentials: Exploring the Security Benefits of Physical and Mobile ID Co-existence. You’ll hear about the steps underway in our transition out of the card-only world – into a world that utilizes the strengths of cards combined with mobile.
