A library of snippets
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Gareth Shaw, from consumer organisation Which?, said: “With the existing cash system being pushed closer to the edge of collapse by the coronavirus outbreak, it is clear that new solutions are desperately needed to secure people’s access and ability to pay with cash, which millions of people still rely on as their main form of payment.”
From New trials planned for cash-stricken communities – BBC News:
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“Passports are a great example – one country issues them and visas are included in them. Looking at this analogy, we can create a passport of #identity and financial services can provide a stamp or look to it.” – @jasr789 @stripe
— OWI (@1WorldIdentity)
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Back in 2014
There was a great story on BBC Radio recently. It caught my attention because it demonstrated faults with our useless and outdated cheque payments system and our useless and outdated identity infrastructure at the same time.
A listener posted a cheque for £36,000 to his bank. It was stolen and paid in by someone else to an account in approximately his name. £20,000 was withdrawn. Barclays, his bank, have agreed to refund him only the balance of £16,000. What are his rights? And will the new cheque imaging service be any safer and quicker?
During the episode, the bank is quoted as saying that their cashiers are not experts in identification. Indeed, They are not. Which is why the business case for KYC and AML and ATF stuff is so confused. What is the point of asking people to present documents that cannot possibly be verified? How is the poor chap at the bank counter expected to know whether my Portugese fishing licence is still valid or not? Clearly the fraudster had to present some documents to open the account.
If you’re applying for a Barclays Bank Account or a Premier Current Account you’ll need to show us 2 valid and original documents from the list below – one from the proof of ID list and the other to give proof of your current UK address. The same document cannot be used to verify both your identity and your address.
[From
Identification for bank accounts ]
Clearly, the documents presented were fraudulent. I’m not picking on Barclays, obviously. This is a general problem across jurisdictions and banks. While it is complicated and expensive and annoying for legitimate customers and business to comply with stupid KYC requirements, it is apparently trivial for the criminals to do so.
There is no point having an identity infrastructure where it is impossible to verify identity. On the other hand, an infrastructure that means identity is verified at every turn is invasive and open to abuse. We have a system that delivers neither, and costs a fortune.
KYC Exchange estimates that whereas a KYC request might take 30 – 50 days to turn around using standard industry measures, its own system can do the same work in five minutes. The time saved for a bank initiator is estimated at approximately 90%, while the receiving bank saves around 40-50%, according to von Hänisch.
[From
Cost of KYC too high says Swiss start up » Banking Technology ]
Maybe KYC Exchange could then issue a Financial Service Passport of some kind? There’s a thought. I’ve been with Barclays for 37 years: perhaps they could provide me with some sort of app on my smartphone that I could use to present KYC credentials when I want to take out insurance or get a mortgage or rent a house or anything. This is the sort of thing that I think we will be discussing at
techUK next Monday, where Ian Jenkins of Deloitte and I will be chairing a discussion around the concept:
A ‘financial services passport’ refers to an aspirational digital identity, issued by UK financial services providers, and mutually recognised across the financial services industry. Such an interoperable digital identity could be utilised to correctly identify and authenticate end-users with appropriate security in a wide variety of circumstances and across a wide variety of channels.
Look forward to seeing you there.
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Rapper Akon has agreed on a $6 billion deal to build a futuristic new ‘crypto city’ in Senegal.
From Akon is planning to build a cryptocurrency-powered city in Senegal – The Spaces:
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The musician is also planning a solar power plant, suggesting the new city will prioritise green energy. Inhabitants will buy goods and services using Akon’s own cryptocurrency AKoins, which will form the basis of Akon City’s economy.
From Akon is planning to build a cryptocurrency-powered city in Senegal – The Spaces:
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The position taken by the Eleventh Circuit may protect crypto users in case of insider theft… However, it has been argued this interpretation could criminalize… activities that are not illegal but are contractually prohibited such as lying about your height on an online dating site in violation of the website’s terms of service.
From US Supreme Court’s Computer Fraud Ruling Has Big Implications for Crypto – CoinDesk:
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We aim to design a CBDC with cash-like properties in digital form:
Private: While not aiming for cash-like anonymity, CBDC should be highly private yet meet the obligation to be compliant with anti-money laundering and other regulations.
Universally accessible: Regardless of their circumstances, CBDC should be usable by all Canadians, even by those without a bank account or access to a cellular phone, in remote communities not well served by cellular networks, and/or those with sensory, motor and cognitive impairments.
Resilient: CBDC should continue to work even during electrical power and network outages.
Secure: CBDC must have the highest levels of security so Canadians can use it with confidence, as they do our banknotes.
We will design an architecture into which these properties are coherently embedded, with a potentially multi-decade evolving lifespan, supporting a business model designed to achieve CBDC policy goals.From Project Manager, CBDC:
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The preliminary report was handed to Moyane in May, and contains bank records for 11 different bank accounts, along with camera footage documenting the alleged suspicious behaviour.
From Senior SARS executive probed for ‘highly unusual’ cash deposits:
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the address that sent two transactions with a fee of $5 million is probably a bot that is laundering money, which can be connected to PlusToken
From Someone paid $2.6 million transaction fee twice: PlusToken Trail:
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Inhabitants will buy goods and services using Akon’s own cryptocurrency AKoins, which will form the basis of Akon City’s economy.
From Akon is planning to build a cryptocurrency-powered city in Senegal – The Spaces:
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Defining a suitable regulatory response to the appearance of Big Tech in the financial sector is “one of the greatest public policy challenges facing regulatory bodies”, says BBVA in a report which calls on financial watchdogs to address the imbalance on data access between banks and firms such as Google, Amazon and Facebook.
From Financial regulators need to get to grips with Big Tech – BBVA:
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Against this backdrop, calls are expected in the U.S. and other nations for closer cooperation between monetary authorities and technology companies to help develop a cross-border digital dollar or a counterpart such as a cross-border pound.
From China takes battle for cryptocurrency hegemony to new stage – Nikkei Asian Review:
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