FDIC and FinCEN Launch Digital Identity Tech Sprint

F.P. Report

WASHINGTON: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced a Tech Sprint to develop solutions for financial institutions and regulators to help measure the effectiveness of digital identity proofing—the process used to collect, validate, and verify information about a person.

Through the Tech Sprint, FDIC’s tech lab (FDITECH) and FinCEN seek to increase efficiency and account security; reduce fraud and other forms of identity-related crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing; and foster customer confidence in the digital banking environment.

Digital identity proofing is a foundational element to enable digital financial services to function properly. This element is challenged by the proliferation of compromised personally identifiable information (PII), the increasing use of synthetic identities, and the presence of multiple, varied approaches for identity proofing. The FDIC and FinCEN ask Tech Sprint participants to answer the following question:

“What is a scalable, cost-efficient, risk-based solution to measure the effectiveness of digital identity proofing to ensure that individuals who remotely (i.e., not in person) present themselves for financial activities are who they claim to be?”

In the coming weeks, FDIC and FinCEN will open registration for this Tech Sprint. Interested individuals will have approximately two weeks to submit applications. The Tech Sprint will encompass a review of applications, grouping of individuals into teams that will work together over approximately three weeks to develop solutions to this challenge question, and invitations to participate in a virtual “Demo Day” of short team presentations to a panel of experts for evaluation.