Banks and suppliers should pay attention. Last year, Mastercard released its vision for a digital identity service that aligns with Self-Sovereign Identity. Its implementation partners include Microsoft and Samsung. Mastercard launched a pilot in Australia and today announced a pilot for Macedonia:
“This first-of-its-kind effort will build on the recently created digital identity regulations in North Macedonia and broader European eIDAS (electronic identification, authentication and trust services) standards. Once launched, it will also enable seamless digital interactions between businesses and government agencies across the region and around the globe.
“Propelling our economy is critical. But to meet our potential, everyone must establish a digital trust service foundation,” said Damjan Mancevski, minister of Information Society and Administration.
“This partnership will provide a digital identity service that improves the everyday experience, while increasing the efficiency of our public and private services on the road to greater economic growth,” said Nina Angelovska, Minister of Finance.
The partnership will promote open collaboration with governments, banks, mobile network operators, universities and other partners to shape the services. In addition to the digital identity service, Mastercard will also support other e-government initiatives and promote related best practices from other geographies.
The North Macedonian/Mastercard digital identity service is based upon a distributed model that eliminates the need for a centralized identity database. It builds on Mastercard’s consumer-centric approach outlined in a Principles of Digital Identity vision paper that prioritizes privacy-by-design.”
Overview
by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator
Advisory Group
