1 Introduction / Executive Summary

In this Leadership Compass, we evaluate solutions that can serve as a foundation for customers who need to utilize verified identity in processes, be it in onboarding an unknown customer or verifying that a contractor is who they claim to be. Providers of Verified Identity are vendors that can issue a digital verified identity or enable an external verified identity to be onboarded and used by the enterprise. Full-service providers can also register, onboard, and authenticate using the verified identity.

The term "Verified Identity" stands for digital identities that have been verified to describe a real-world identity in digital form, and that the verification remains valid throughout the identity lifecycle. Therefore, Providers of Verified Identity are the vendors that can issue such a verified identity or enable an external verified identity to be onboarded by an enterprise.

Identity verification has previously been viewed as a product category of its own but is increasingly being integrated into full-service solutions, enabling identity verification to be conducted remotely, automatically, passively, federated from verified accounts, in a decentralized manner and/or in parallel to other steps of the identity lifecycle.

This is an emerging market space, and the vendors that are assessed in this Leadership Compass display different methods to provide an enterprise with a verified identity. Some rely on federating verified account information, such as from banks. Others leverage the growing eID ecosystem particularly in Europe. Some embrace the emerging Verifiable Credentials model. And others use the document/biometric/liveness verification model which is gaining popularity and accuracy. Each approach must be assessed individually based on enterprise requirements.

This Leadership Compass gives an overview of the market, required capabilities of a well-rounded solution, and detailed information on the participating vendors.

1.1 Key Findings

• This report compares full-service verified identity providers, or vendors that conduct digital identity verification alongside providing several of the identity lifecycle stages including vetting/proofing, registration, authentication, and additional services such as fraud reduction, electronic signing, attribute verification, and orchestration.
• A strong ecosystem rating and robust partnerships with both technology providers and institutes like national registries contribute to a strong solution.
• There are roughly three models of how data flows when a verified identity is provided to a customer or relying party: identity verification is processed in the cloud, processed or stored on the mobile device, or federated directly from the identity provider.
• There are roughly four technology methods that are combined to provide a verified identity: remote automated, eID integration, federating verified accounts, and use of Verifiable Credentials.
• Orchestration features in a solution help to gain adequate global coverage of identity documents, connections to national registries, and coverage for local regulation.
• Overall Leaders in alphabetical order are: 1Kosmos, Experian, HID Global, IDEMIA, Microsoft, Ping Identity, Thales.
• Product Leaders in alphabetical order are: 1Kosmos, HID Global, IDEMIA, Experian, Ping Identity, Thales.
• Innovation Leaders in alphabetical order are: 1Kosmos, HID Global, iProov, Microsoft, Ping Identity, Thales.