An overwhelming majority of consumers (80%) prefer transacting with brands that perform digital identity verification, a new study commissioned by the digital ID verification service provider Jumio found.
The study conducted by the research firm Opinium interviewed 8,000 adult consumers in the U.S., U.K., Singapore, and Mexico between April 7 and 14, 2022.
Most consumers in Mexico (92%), Singapore (89%), the US (74%), and the UK (66%) said they were more likely to engage with brands that had robust ID verification measures.
Digital identity is most crucial in the financial sector
The Digital Identity in 2022 Global Consumer Research found that most consumers expect digital ID verification when transacting with companies in specific sectors.
Two-thirds (68%) of the survey respondents said it was essential to use digital identity when transacting with a financial services company online, followed by health care (52%) and social media platforms (42%).
Overall, consumers around the world agreed that ID verification in the financial services sector was critical.
However, Mexican consumers also prioritized ID verification on social media (52%) and the sharing economy (49%) above healthcare.
40% of consumers in the U.K. said digital identity should be required during online shopping, placing it at the third position.
U.S. and Singaporean consumers had similar priorities, placing healthcare and social media in second and third positions.
In Singapore, 84% of the survey respondents said they trusted companies that completed digital identity verification to handle their personal information.
A Singaporean access an average of 12 accounts weekly, with 70% of users “constantly” and “often” using their digital identity to access online services.
On average, 57% of global consumers use their digital identity online since the pandemic, with Mexico (55%) ahead of the U.S. (52%) and the U.K. (50%).
However, nearly half (49%) of Singaporeans abandon the ID verification process when it becomes too complicated.
The question remains whether businesses, especially social media platforms, are willing to stand their ground on the issue and demand ID verification for registration.
Businesses in critical sectors lag in ID verification
Just over a third (34%) of the respondents believe their banks had implemented ID verification to protect them from identity theft.
Similarly, only 41% of gaming and betting industry respondents said their companies had implemented ID verification to prevent fraud.
However, banks were ahead of the curve in fraud prevention, with 61% of respondents believing their institutions had done more to protect their bank accounts from fraud.
Few respondents were confident in the age verification measures by social media platforms (39%) and age-restricted sites (36%).
Digital identity is crucial for creating trust and holding people accountable
Digital identity is crucial in proving that a person is who they claim to be. Nearly a third (32%) of consumers were concerned about talking to a healthcare practitioner whose digital identity they could not confirm.
Consumers from Mexico (45%) and Singapore (45%) were more concerned about the unproven identities of medical practitioners.
Similarly, 83% of consumers wanted social media sites to verify users and hold them accountable for their online activity. Verifying a person’s digital identity could help moderators take appropriate actions against illegal activity.
The study posited that besides protecting users from data breaches, ID verification solutions could serve other concerns like combating the spread of hate online.
Jumio and other ID verification providers have incorporated diverse technologies, including facial recognition, into their digital ID verification toolkits, including facial recognition. With more consumers demanding proof of digital identity, the future of digital ID verification looks promising.
“As our use of online services only continues to grow, organizations are clearly implementing the robust identity verification methods required to prevent (sic) against the risks associated with virtual services,” Jumio’s Chief of Digital Identity, Philipp Pointner, said. “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.”
