Several US credit unions have begun piloting the MyCUID digital identity service from blockchain outfit CULedger.
Employees and members at Unify Financial Credit Union, Desert Financial Credit Union and TruWest Credit Union tested and provided feedback on MyCUID through individual pilot launches.
Developed by credit union-owned CULedger, MyCUID is a KYC-compliant, member-controlled, interoperable decentralised digital credential. It uses a P2P network of distributed, private agents working in parallel with the distributed ledger to give credit union members a lifetime portable digital ID.
The credit unions used the system at their call centre operations for high-risk transactions. Members verified their identities by using the voice, fingerprint or facial recognition biometric functions on their smart phones.
CULedger says that the technology helped reduce the time to verify members from more than 50 seconds to ten or less. In the longer term, it hopes to see a reduction in fraud losses, lower member friction and increased loyalty.
“Our members are already embracing this new method of authentication and sharing their excitement with our team,” says Gordon Howe, CEO of Unify Financial Credit Union. “We’ve been told that the enrolment process is simple and quick, and that they feel more secure when calling into the call centre."
CULedger says it now plans more pilots before full rollouts next year.