DIGITAL IDENTITY - A strategic skill in the age of open banking

• UNITED KINGDOM – Yes and Verimi join forces to improve identity verification
• EUROPE – NOBID consortium chosen for the European digital identity wallet
• UNITED STATES – PayPal and MetaMask join forces to make it easier to buy crypto

Since the advent of open banking, banking solutions have been considerably enriched. They now include extra-banking services. The services are broken down by functionality and are accessible by simple API calls. However, this simplicity does not exempt the startups that offer them from their regulatory obligations. In fact, certain services such as KYC have become increasingly crucial for both new and old players who wish to innovate in the integration of their services. These identification services are also at the forefront of innovation as they will enable the federating of physical as well as virtual identities in the future. Startups offering these services are therefore highly coveted. Like Verimi, which has announced its merger with the British open-banking service Yes, in order to have a greater influence on this rapidly growing market. We remember Ubble, which joined the payment platform Ckeckout earlier this year, and IDNOW, which merged with Ariadnext last year. The wallet has in fact become a central part of the act of payment and potentially of much more. This is the conclusion towards which the EPI consortium is also converging by redefining its ambitions for the European Digital Wallet by choosing the Nordic player NOBID, a multinational consortium of digital identity experts of Nordic origin. This initiative will have to compete with the most advanced American tech players such as Google, Apple or Paypal, which has just announced a partnership with the crypto wallet Metamask, or even JP Morgan, which is also planning to develop a crypto wallet, the key to conquering the still little explored lands of the web3.

INTEGRATED PAYMENT - Payment increasingly invisible in mobility

• FRANCE – AXEPTA launches the first barrier-free toll solution in France
• FRANCE – Apple Pay Express déployé sur le réseau TCL
• FRANCE – Lille launches the Positive Toll to earn money

Mobility is also a strong subject of innovation for payment companies. Recently, the A79 motorway was the first in France to inaugurate a barrier-free toll, also known as "free flow". The company Autoroute de Liaison Atlantique Europe (ALIAE) called on AXEPTA BNP Paribas to set up this innovative payment system. Open Payment is also a subject that is causing quite a stir among payment and mobility players. Since Thursday 8 December, iPhone owners can use Apple Pay Express to pay for their tickets on Lyon's public transport system (TCL). Apple Pay was already available, but this is another step towards simplifying this contactless payment operation in a mobile situation. Finally, the third initiative which is a little different from payment, but which is nevertheless interesting to follow, is the one set up by the European Metropolis of Lille. Called "positive toll" or "eco-bonus", the measure allows residents of certain areas to earn money by not using their car. The solution is based on an automatic number plate reading system, the same technology that works for motorway tolls.