Samsung Joins Financial Consortium to Develop Mobile Identity Verification System

Reports suggest that South Korea is gearing up for a major move, as a consortium composed of three financial services companies, three telecommunications firms, and a tech giant has established a commercial partnership to launch a blockchain-based mobile identification system in 2020.

According to reports, the three financial services companies involved are KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank, and KOSCOM, while the telecommunications companies are SK Telecom, KT, and LG UPlus. Behind them is the consortium represented by the well-known Samsung Electronics.

The purpose of this partnership is to establish a "self-sovereign identity" system, a new form of identity system that eliminates the involvement of intermediaries, mainly government-certified or public management agencies handling personal data, allowing individuals and organizations to control their identities in online transactions.

Fraud risks will be significantly reduced

During this process, fraud risks will be greatly reduced as blockchain technology imposes significant constraints on data modification, making it an effective, verifiable, and permanent method for maintaining transaction records among parties.

The service aims to allow users to store personal information such as resident registration numbers and bank account numbers for flexible use. The financial services companies mentioned above provide authentication services, telecommunications companies manage stable transmission services, and Samsung ensures secure data storage management.

The alliance stated in a press release

This project will create the most powerful synergies as the participants are the top leaders in their respective fields.

In addition, Samsung will ensure secure and reliable management of stored data through the enterprise mobile security solution Samsung Knox, pre-installed in most smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices. The collaboration between information and communication technology, electronics, and financial services will help people experience innovative and advanced services.

The alliance will seek more partners in 2020, including large corporations, universities, hospitals, insurance companies, entertainment facilities, resorts, and country clubs. They mentioned that Korean students will now be able to obtain a new ID in about three days, which is much more efficient than the previous three weeks.

Further Reading

• Fujitsu's blockchain DID technology will significantly enhance transaction reliability
• Amazon to collaborate with IDEO CoLab to build a blockchain startup accelerator

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