Digital scheme proves “easier and quicker”

Etive Limited, coordinators of the MyIdentity scheme for home buying and selling, announce today that Estate Agents are seeing the benefits of the digital identity scheme. Lantana Estates Limited, an award-winning estate agents based in London, is working as part of the scheme’s Beta test project and were able to carry out the identity verification (ID&V) of their clients using both Digidentity, an identity service provider (IDSP) which working to the MyIdentity scheme standards versus a non-scheme provider. The direct comparison enabled Lantana Estates to measure the process and understand the customer journey and the operational benefits for an estate agency working as part of the MyIdentity scheme.

Being able to measure the two different approaches to identity verification, Cindy Coetzee, Director at Lantana Estates, highlighted the fact that the MyIdentity process was “easier and quicker”. By comparison, using Google Authenticator for the first time was new but Lantana decided to keep the app as it seemed easy to use for added security.

Stuart Young, director at Etive, said: “It is easier for the consumer to use a non-proprietary two factor authentication process for additional security. Lantana Estates is selling a development of south London apartments and the MyIdentity scheme has enabled Lantana Estates to measure pre- and post- standards processes in identity verification.”

Cindy Coetzee, director at Lantana Estates, said: “We found the non-MyIdentity process was more difficult as sessions timed out for the client and required a lot of going backwards and forwards to the client trying to get them to do their identity verification. We had to chase-up quite a lot and explain to them that the emails they were receiving from the identity provider were not spam.”

Lantana Estates want to make sure it continues to be compliant with relevant legislation. Lantana Estates needed the reassurance and peace of mind to make sure everything is done one hundred percent correctly.

“The beta testing of MyIdentity commenced in the first week of November and there were some initial positive observations to be made. Focusing on the consumer’s needs are critical because if it works for them then it will work for the estate agent and all those that follow on in the transaction process. Aligning to when a consumer has the time to do their identity verification is important.  This is typically in the evening after work or at the weekend, said Stuart Young.

Combined with this is getting the message through to the market that increasing standards to ID&V, carried out by a certified identity service provider, helps to streamline the home buying and selling process and increase the barriers to fraud.  These changes also meet current AML and DCMS requirements, so ensures greater transparency of compliance.

Stuart Young said: “We’re really pleased with the initial drive and focus from the industry and their continued input to improve the home buying and selling process, especially around better tackling fraud.  As we recently saw with the Vicar who lost his Luton property to identity fraud, we need to continually strive to increase the barriers to property and mortgage fraud and work together as an industry to create these barriers.”

MyIdentity is an industry wide trust scheme to help improve the process of identity verification for consumers and the industry.