ICONLOOP, the operator of Seoul’s standard blockchain platform and one of the largest blockchain enterprises in South Korea, has introduced its digital ID service that can be utilized for untact (non-face-to-face verification) openings of banking accounts. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), South Korean government’s top financial regulator, has announced the inclusion of ICONLOOP’s ‘my-ID’ service into the ‘Innovative Financial Services and Regulations Sandbox’ created under the Financial Innovation Support Special Law.
Jonghyup Kim, CEO of ICONLOOP, stated, “The designation of my-ID as an Innovative Financial Service will be a monumental turning point in the growth of Korea’s blockchain industry.” He also said, “Although it has been somewhat difficult to find a meaningful use of blockchain technology in everyday life so far, this will be an opportunity to prove and verify the usefulness of blockchain technology. I hope that this marks not only the expansion of blockchain technology but also the creation of an overall digital identity ecosphere.”
As 18 different companies, including manufacturers, banks, stock/securities firms, insurance companies, and e-commerce companies, have expressed their participation in the Innovative Financial Service project, the sandbox inclusion is expected to act as a stimulus towards mass adoption.
my-ID
my-ID, which was designated as an Innovative Financial Service, is a digital identity authentication service built on blockchain technology. It allows for ID authentication information (ID, monetary transfers, verification through mobile phones, etc.) to be saved to the user’s mobile phone so that users can reuse said information to open further accounts or access other services that requires identification. This drastically simplifies the cumbersome processes such as taking pictures of one’s ID over and over again and will allow consumers to sign up for various financial products in an easier manner.
Under the current process, consumers cannot submit previously saved images of their ID but have to take a picture of their ID in real time. Through my-ID, the identification authentication information will be saved after an initial, one-time authentication process at a financial institution. This information is prevented from being tampered with through a blockchain, and future usage of the saved information requires biometric authentication.
The inclusion of my-ID into the ‘Innovative Financial Services Sandbox’ is likely due to not only the ease it provides for account openings, but also its tremendous potential for application in other areas. An ID that has been approved by financial institutions to be fit for financial activities is widely seen as having passed the most stringent authentication process. Therefore, it is expected that the said ID can and will be utilized within the digital ecosphere as a whole. For example, it could be used to authenticate driver’s licenses for car-sharing services or a method of logging in to an online shopping mall. Essentially, it will solve the problems that we have all faced in the past due to the fact that there was no one unified method of ID authentication that everyone trusted.
In line with the global trend, my-ID is expected to be configured in a ‘self-sovereign’ manner, eliminating the risk of personal information leaks. The self-sovereign manner refers to a method where one keeps all of his/her information until it needs to be shared with a specific party, as opposed to consigning his/her information to a third authenticating party. This eliminates the risk of a third party holding large quantities of personal information and accidentally leaking information, as well as making it impossible for parties to trade other peoples’ private information for monetary returns. This, in effect, returns the ownership of personal information to the actual owners.
Innovative Financial Services and Regulations Sandbox
It is an exemption system in which innovative financial services are designated and exempted from restrictions on licensing and sales activities. As children play freely in sand playgrounds, the phrase “Regulations Sandbox” is used for the purpose of unlocking regulations.
About ICONLOOP
ICONLOOP, Inc. (formerly theloop) is a tech company, based in Seoul, South Korea, specialized in the implementation and design of blockchain technology. ICONLOOP targets both scalability and security to maximize the utility of blockchain technology. Based on a proprietary blockchain engine, loopchain, ICONLOOP leads diverse innovations in financial transactions, and digital currency.