Verimi takes over the identity service of the Volksbanken and Sparkasse
Digital identities promise legally secure logins for online services.
(Photo: imago images/Westend61)
Berlin, Frankfort Being able to identify yourself online with legal certainty is a basic requirement for the digitalization at companies and authorities. “The digital identity creates a space of unlimited digital possibilities,” promised Federal Digital and Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) at the Handelsblatt dialogue on digital services of general interest.
While a state digital identity is still a long time coming, some solutions are already on the market from the private sector. According to Handelsblatt information, one of the largest private providers of digital identity management, “Verimi”, is now taking over its competitor “Yes”, which primarily provides identification via bank accounts for savings banks and cooperative banks. The newsletter “Finanz-szene” had previously reported.
The largest shareholders in the combined company will be several financial institutions. The insurer then holds more than five percent alliance and GMB Systems, the investment company of the insurance industry, as well Volkswagen Financial Services, the Deutsche Bank and the cooperative financial network via its IT service provider Atruvia and its leading institute DZ Bank. The previous Yes shareholders will own about 25 percent. The boss and founder of Yes, Daniel Goldscheider, is leaving the company. Verimi and Yes did not comment on the conditions.
Shareholders reinvest in the course of the merger
“Because we will be able to integrate the bank identification process into our wallet in the future, we will pool our strengths and create a greater reach,” hopes Verimi Managing Director Roland Adrian. In addition, the merger promises further financing in the double-digit million range. In the future, both providers are to become a common platform. This will be available as a Verimi ID wallet on the web and via the app.
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Verimi and Yes started about four years ago and competed with each other from the start. None of the companies has been able to assert itself on the market.
At Verimi are so far next to the alliancethe German bank and Volkswagen also the Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa and Bundesdruckerei involved. With the help of the digital Verimi wallet, users can identify themselves, log in and pay at various points without having to re-enter their data each time. For example, when renting a car online or opening a bank account.
“Yes” offers identification options using online banking. This should enable bank customers to identify themselves online and log in more easily on various websites.
No information on usage figures
Verimi and Yes do not want to provide precise information on the number of their users. According to the company, a “seven-digit number of wallet accounts” is registered with Verimi. Yes does not have its own users because it provides access to the bank accounts. “The range is the sum of the online banking customers of Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken and savings banks,” writes the company on request.
“The three major partners from the banking industry alone, including savings banks, Raiffeisen banks and Deutsche Bank, cover more than 50 percent of the German market with a total of over 50 million private customers,” advertise Verimi and Yes.
Despite the potentially high number of users, the use cases for Yes have so far been limited. Among others, Yes cooperates with the tax software provider Buhl Data, the platform Nebenan.de, the city of Marburg and the online arcade Jokerstar. Little is known about Verimi either. As long as consumers do not need the identity services on a regular basis, their use remains limited – which in turn keeps the awareness and interest of other companies in involving Yes or Verimi small.
In Germany In addition, the first banks are offering, for example, account opening via the online ID function of the ID card – as an alternative to the video identification process. The online bank ING Germany started doing this at the end of last week, with the competitor Comdirect This type of identity verification has been around for a long time. ING is now hoping that more companies will use the online ID function. “So far there have been too few use cases. We hope other companies follow suit,” said Ronnie shrink, customer identification expert at ING.
It is unclear whether the state will build an app for the online IDs itself or whether wallet providers such as Verimi can integrate the online ID and thus get more users.
More: Why the solutions for digital identities are not progressing
