ABN Amro combines payment and digital identity

The Dutch bank ABN Amro has just introduced an innovative new service called ID & Pay. As the name suggests, it addresses the issue of digital identity but also includes a payment functionality to illustrate the interest and legitimacy of this type of offer, in a context marked by the exponential digitalisation of services.

FACTS

• ID & Pay is based on a mobile application that ABN Amro says can replace the onboarding and payment processes with a unique online identification and payment functionality, integrated in a secure environment.

• As part of its pilot with Swapfiets, ABN Amro is offering the service's customers a way to sign up and pay for their Swapfiets membership in just a few seconds.

• ID & Pay allows users to securely store their ID and make payments from the same application. ID & Pay is thus used by end customers directly to :

  • store their ID (via a scan and video) and their means of payment,

  • link the two documents,

  • identify themselves and pay for purchases easily with various services.

• The ID & pay application is entirely free of charge. The bank will receive a fee for payments made via its payment methods within the application.

• ABN Amro is counting on a multiplication of partnerships to ensure the diffusion of its device throughout Europe. The solution is initially part of a pilot project launched with Swapfiets, a micromobility company that provides a bicycle maintenance service with 280,000 users in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

CHALLENGES

• Simplifying payment integration: ABN Amro states that its ID & Pay concept is above all a way for the bank to meet the needs of professionals who want to guarantee the identity and security of their end customers' payments by equipping them directly.

• Optimising the subscription process: For end-users, there is no longer any need to enter their personal data multiple times. In addition to payment, the use of ID & Pay also promises to limit the number of manual steps and entries when opening an account with a new service.

• A new role for the bank: ABN Amro is once again justifying its status as a trusted third party bank with the launch of its ID & Pay service. Its application protects the personal data of its users while covering a payment and expense tracking service.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• ID & Pay aims to become a benchmark service in the medium term. ABN Amro is counting on its association with other Dutch banks that are already involved in the project and that allow users of the application to link their bank account hosted by ABN Amro to their ID document registered in ID & Pay.

• While ABN Amro's concept is promising, as is often the case, its success will depend on its ability to become interoperable by making it compatible with numerous banks and a multitude of services.

• In Belgium, a similar initiative is also taking shape around the identity operator It'sme, to which several banks are connected to provide seamless online or mobile payment.