Banking Consortium Releases Interoperability Standard for Digital IDs
NEW YORK – November 22, 2025 – A coalition of 23 global financial institutions announced Thursday the release of a unified technical standard for digital identity interoperability, establishing a common protocol for secure customer verification across international banking systems.
The Global Financial Identity Consortium (GFIC) framework addresses a critical friction point in modern banking: the estimated $60 million average annual cost per institution for Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, driven by fragmented identity systems and redundant manual processes. Recent research indicates interoperable digital IDs can reduce these expenses by up to 90% while improving fraud detection rates by 500 basis points through multi-layered authentication protocols.
The standard leverages OpenID for Verifiable Presentation specifications, which demonstrated real-world interoperability at a May 2025 event where implementers across Berlin, Tokyo, and San Francisco validated cross-platform credential exchange [1]. This architecture aligns with emerging regulatory frameworks including the European Digital Identity Wallet large-scale pilots and NIST cybersecurity guidelines, enabling banks to verify customer attributes without storing sensitive biometric or government-issued data directly. Technical implementation requires self-certification through open-source conformance tests, ensuring all ecosystem participants meet identical security benchmarks before deployment.
Market adoption is accelerating as jurisdictions worldwide recognize digital identity infrastructure as foundational to financial inclusion. According to Nextrade Group’s June 2025 analysis, economies with mature digital public infrastructure and interoperable ID systems show 40% higher financial inclusion rates among underbanked populations. The framework supports tiered identity assurance levels, allowing institutions to perform simplified due diligence for low-risk accounts while maintaining strengthened verification for high-value transactions—a model successfully piloted in Bangladesh’s central bank e-KYC guidelines. The consortium projects initial certification for participating banks by Q2 2026, with phased rollout beginning in North America and Europe.
“Our industry has operated in silos for too long, forcing customers to repeatedly prove their identity while banks shoulder duplicative compliance costs,” said Maria Chen, GFIC executive director and former chief digital officer at HSBC. “This standard creates a secure, user-centric model where individuals control their credentials and institutions gain reliable, reusable verification. It’s not merely a technical specification—it’s the foundation for a more accessible global financial system.”
The framework’s governance model mandates quarterly security audits, data minimization principles, and clear liability parameters for credential issuers and relying parties. Early adopters include multinational banks operating across 47 countries, collectively serving 380 million retail customers.
About Global Financial Identity Consortium
GFIC is a nonprofit industry association founded in 2024 to establish technical and regulatory standards for digital identity in financial services. Members include leading global banks, payment networks, and fintech innovators committed to advancing secure, interoperable identity verification. The consortium collaborates with standards bodies including OpenID Foundation, ISO, and the Financial Stability Board on global implementation guidance.
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