Chloe’s keynote from Digital ID and Payments: The Moment of Truth

This is the full transcript of Chloe’s keynote at Digital ID and Payments: The Moment of Truth, our industry panel on 5 Feb 2026 in London. See the original event listing.

On the 23rd March, 2023, history was made. 

Someone used generative AI to create a truly haunting video of Will Smith eating spaghetti. 

Oh how we laughed. That clearly isn’t a person!!! Everything is fine!!! 

This one was created in October. 

Uncanny, isn’t it?

I don’t know why the fresh prince eating spaghetti has become the benchmark for our technological progress as a society, but alas, here we are. 

Obviously, the implications of this advancement are terrifying and massive. 

59% of all fraud is identity fraud. 

That largely falls into 2 categories. Theft or fabrication. 

Identity fraud existed long before generative AI, and now it’s only getting worse. 

It’s easier than ever to adapt a document, or to invent an entire person, from nothing. Name, date of birth, address history. It takes seconds. 

We can’t rely on what we’ve been using for decades, not any more. 

So what’s next? What could possibly fix this?

A truly digital identity. 

Not just an awkward, slightly blurry photo of a passport or driving licence. 

But something quick, secure, something that can be traced back to source. 

It’s months away now. 

The EU digital wallet deadline is at the end of the year, and, closer to home

The UK mobile driving licence will be launched this summer. 

We think there are 3 big opportunities: 

Because a digital identity is checked with the issuer every time, it’s ultimately much harder to defraud. 

You are able to establish the trustworthiness of your customer with the data that is held by the authority that issued it. There’s no room for tampering. 

The two most popular documents used for KYC in the UK are a passport and a driving licence, and despite what people may tell you, there’s no way to check with the issuer.

Proper digital identity offers the only way out of this situation.  

And, the user experience is just BETTER. 

When you’re onboarding new customers, the highest drop off rate is at the KYC step.

It could be that the customer doesn’t have the “right” documentation, it could be that they have it, but not on them, or it could just be that it’s not worth the faff. 

Doing a video selfie, and then taking a photo of a physical document is, at best, an annoying user experience. 

At worst, it’s completely inaccessible. If you’re using assistive tech, or you just find it hard to hold your phone still, then this way of verifying your identity becomes impossible. 

Digital identity scraps all of this. It’s just a couple of taps. 

Often, identity and address verification involve visual document checks; usually by compliance teams. 

But when you’re using evidence that is not only much harder to manipulate, but always instantly verifiable, it is a game changer. 

Compliance teams will no longer be checking the very basics like a name or date of birth. They can focus on the real stuff. 

Sounds like it’s all sorted out then?

Well, surprise, nothing is ever that easy. 

Adoption isn’t going to be a walk in the park. 

There are 11 million adults in the UK without a passport or a driving licence, and worldwide, that number grows to 1 billion. 

If someone doesn’t have the “right” foundational documentation, enrolling them onto a digital ID scheme becomes incredibly tricky. 

In the early days of Vouchsafe, we worked with the Scottish Government because they needed this problem solved. 

So we built Vouching – using a trusted referee to confirm someone’s identity, and pairing that with extensive background checks. 

The types of evidence a person can use to get digital identity HAS to be flexible, because not everyone has the same pieces of paper or plastic. 

Different types of evidence provide different information. 

And, this doesn’t go away with digital identity. 

The BankID of the Nordics looks incredibly different to India’s Aadhar. 

The mobile driving licence of California is nothing like the digital State ID of Utah. 

Firstport is a Scottish charity who offer grant funding and investment for social enterprises. 

They came to us because there are so many different types of evidence that people bring to them, from all over the world. But there was no single place that would take it all and be able to verify it. 

In order to accept Digital ID from all over the world, businesses need an acceptance layer. 

Something that can validate and verify all the different types of digital ID, and, importantly, act on signs of fraud, such as an identity being verified frequently in a short period of time. 

Think Stripe or Visa payments; but for identity.

When I go into a shop, to buy an age restricted item, if I use my driving licence, the vendor can see my full name, my date of birth, my address and what types of vehicle I can drive. 

They don’t need to know all that. All they need to know is that I am over 18. 

With selective disclosure, I can share only the parts that I want to. And all digital identity schemes are built around this principle. 

Great in theory, but this poses an issue for KYC, which demands much more information. 

So; digital identity needs to be used as the foundation, and paired with additional types of checks. 

Identity is an ecosystem, made up of many many places where our data is stored and who has it, of who knows us and in what capacity, of the services we’ve used, of what pieces of paper and plastic we have in our pockets, and now, what we do or do not have stored in a wallet on our phones. 

For those with digital identity, onboarding will be much easier. 

But we need to be able to pull from additional sources, and most importantly, offer fallbacks, so people can prove their trustworthiness, regardless of what circumstances life has thrown at them. 

So what would that actually look like? 

Well. It looks like the damn future. I’m incredibly excited, and very very proud to show you what Vouchsafe has been up to over the past couple of months.

Let’s say you think you’ve lost your bank card, so you freeze it. 

And then you find it in that weird pocket in the top of your coat. 

In order to use it again, you’ve got to prove that you’re you. 

You’re shown the information that is linked with your account

Then, you can pick the evidence that works best for you.

If you’ve got, say, a mobile driving licence, then you tap a button to open the wallet, tap one more to share the data, and you’re done. 

If you haven’t got a digital ID,

or EVEN a photo ID

Then you can use the thing that made vouchsafe famous. 

You can use a referee. They can vouch for you. 

You put in your referee’s email. 

In this case, it has to be someone in a certain profession, and therefore, with a certain email domain. 

They’ll be notified immediately.

Identity done. Next, address. 

It’s all done in the background, and if, for any reason we don’t find what we’re looking for, there are always fall backs. 

Bam, there you go. 

Verified. Back to normal. 

And this is the magic behind the scenes. 

This is where the user journey is built; where businesses pick what they are comfortable accepting, turn on fallbacks like vouching; add money laundering checks; online footprint analysis. 

This is us building for the future. Building the infrastructure so that every business can trust fearlessly. 

Digital identity will be a game changer. 

Especially when it comes to usability and fraud prevention 

So, take our Guide to Digital ID (you are the only people to be offered a shiny physical copy) and reflect on the processes you have in place. 

And; whatever you learn from our panel tonight, take it back, share it. 

On that note, I’m thrilled to bring this group of industry leaders together, and to introduce everyone properly, I am handing over to the fabulous Nkechi.