“A digital representation of an entity, which can be one or more individual pieces of identifying data, an event, or a signal such as an assurance indicator and similar, yet to be determined items defined by the industry.”
A Juniper Research study forecasts that revenue for digital identity vendors will exceed $53 billion globally in 2026, doubling from $26 billion in 2021. Digital identity revenue includes third-party and civic identity apps, centralised identity schemes, and digital identity verification.
The research also predicts that the increased demand for digital onboarding frameworks in the face of the ongoing pandemic will accelerate the uptake of digital identity services.
It also identified verified digital identity, where identities are confirmed as genuine using verifiable credentials, as being vital for improving fraud mitigation. This represents the next evolutionary step for digital identity, moving from establishing infrastructure to utilising and verifying identity in practical applications.
To facilitate this, the report predicts increasing data partnerships between vendors to provide comprehensive, data diverse identity systems.
Verification now the key requirement
The Juniper Research study, Digital Identity: Key Opportunities, Regulatory Landscape & Market Forecasts 2022-2026, found that verification spending will exceed $16 billion in 2026, from $9 billion in 2021.
This growth reflects that, as users migrate to digital channels, the need to verify identity digitally also grows. As fraudsters exploit opportunities, verification capabilities will proliferate to wider industries and use cases than ever before.
Research co-author Damla Sat explained: “Digital identity verification tools have become more critical across a broader range of industries than ever, from banking and financial services to eGovernment, healthcare and others. Developing effective user experiences for different verification scenarios will be important for realising digital identity’s potential.”