The Future Identity Festival brought together a unique, diverse and inclusive community for two lively days of discovery. We explored the role digital identity plays in all our lives – whether as consumers or businesses – and learned that the future of identity is a ever-evolving journey, not a set destination.
Co-location with the Fintech Talents Festival widened the scope of the event and allowed the 2000+ participants to find harmony in the challenges and opportunities they are facing. David Palmer, Vodafone, commented that the event came, “at a very, very important time for the evolution of digital identity and fintech, and the convergence of the two technologies.”
Whether your focus is on digital identity, open finance, community banking, DeFi, embedded finance or beyond, the festival was a place to build new connections and challenge existing ways of thinking. Manuela Sedvartaite, Innovation Manager at Santander, described the atmosphere as, “a rich network of people thinking about what we envision the future to be”.
The content on the Future Identity stage was diverse, covering the application of technologies from biometrics, to mobile, across a range of industries. As Bhavna Saraf, Lloyds Bank put it, “with all the topical content for our industry, I was pressed for time running from to another!”
And yet, there were some clear common themes between session. The need to make identity solutions inclusive and accessible to all, and ensure the customer always remains at the heart of the process, came across loud and clear. I thought that Philip Bonhard from Lloyds Bank’s point that viewing identity from an experience perspective is about asking, “how your mum can use it,” really resonated.
There was also a lot of discussion around empowering consumers to take back control over their digital identities. Not only through greater protection from bad actors, but by affording us all greater privacy, and choice over how much data we share and with whom.
One of my highlights was the discussion on the potential for digital identity to enhance user safety on social media platforms. Keily Blair, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer at OnlyFans joined this panel, and commented, “digital identity and identity verification is at the heart of what we do, ensuring that we keep our community safe and that users are accountable for their actions online is incredibly important for us.”
From digital right-to-work checks to the NHS digital passport, many exciting use cases were explored throughout the two days. Discussion also focused on how to drive greater interoperability between solutions, how regulation is evolving to support identity and how government and industry are collaboration. As Steven Bisoffi, Payment Systems Regulation noted, “The future of identity is all about collaboration.”
Overall, the event was an informative and fun few days spent with an amazing community. My main takeaway is that digital identity is driving transformation in so many different industries, allowing companies to serve their customers much more effectively. Thank you to everyone – speakers, partners, and attendees – that made the 2022 edition of the Fintech Talents Festival such a success.
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Save the dates for next year’s Future Identity Festival – November 13th & 14th 2023, at the Brewery London. And don’t miss Future Identity Finance, taking place March 29th 2023, at the Convene, London. Join 500+ attendees to explore how innovation, regulation and customer expectations are changing how we identify ourselves to access financial services.