Sector Leaders Unite to Drive Innovation in Corporate Identification and Strengthen the UK’s Smart Data Economy

Senior leaders from the UK’s leading financial services firms convened today at an industry summit, hosted by Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), that focused on accelerating the development and adoption of Digital Company ID.

This work builds upon CFIT’s second coalition that advocated for the use of Digital Company ID to fight economic crime, strengthen financial security, drive economic growth and support the transition to a smart data economy.

If widely adopted, Digital Company ID would play a crucial role in fighting economic crime, which currently accounts for over 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales. In a 2023 Home Office report the cost to the economy from fraud was estimated to have reached £6.8 billion. Beyond financial losses, fraud also poses a significant regulatory and reputational risk to businesses and financial institutions.

Representatives from Sage, CFIT, the Department for Business and Trade, the Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, the Tony Blair Institute, Labour Together, Monzo, NatWest, OneID, Experian, Alloy, Dun & Bradstreet, Crick Hietman Ltd and TechUK participated in discussions on shaping a Digital Company ID framework to foster trust, efficiency and security across financial services and beyond.

By advancing this, industry leaders are taking proactive steps to modernise corporate identification, mitigate financial crime risks and position the UK at the forefront of digital innovation in financial services.

The summit focused on the following strategic priorities:

• Accelerating the development of a prototype for Digital Company ID to demonstrate its effectiveness. This will build of CFIT’s existing proofs of concepts.
• Enabling reciprocal and secure data sharing via industry and Government collaboration to understand the different models for sharing data, including who provides the permission to share the data.
• Engaging with industry, Government and regulatory authorities to drive forward standards for interoperability and implementation and scaling of the Digital Company ID.
• Positioning the UK Government as an early adopter to help create market confidence, trust in the system and create a demand to support public sector investment.
• Advocating for widespread adoption across financial services, public sector, third sector and trade ecosystems.
• Launching pilot projects to demonstrate real-world use cases and operational efficiency.
• Setting a clear timeline within the current parliamentary term to develop and implement the Digital Company ID at scale.

Commenting on today’s meeting:

Minister for AI and Digital Government, at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Feryal Clark MP, said: “Embracing digital innovation is key to strengthening our financial sector, and exploring a Digital Company ID is an important step in that direction. Financial crime has a huge impact not only on individual businesses but on our wider economy. That’s why it’s so crucial that organisations up and down the country continue to innovate—harnessing technology to make their financial protections stronger than ever. By rolling out digital services across our economy, we can not only slash red tape and boost productivity but support businesses to grow and thrive on our shores.”

Chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee, Chi Onwurah MP said: “Financial services is a priority sector for the adoption of digital identities. The importance of an easily accessible and verifiable digital ID cannot be overstated, and I look forward to following the industry’s progress on this matter.”

Sage, CEO, Steve Hare said: “The adoption of digital company IDs has the potential to drive growth and foster greater economic prosperity. For UK SMBs, which make up 99% of the business landscape, this presents an opportunity to drive productivity while reducing compliance costs and cutting through admin. Overall, an important step towards a more digitised economy.”

CFIT Director of Coalitions & Research, Leon Ifayemi, said: “Financial crime is one of the most prevalent crimes in the UK, which is why cross industry collaboration is vital to protect consumers, businesses and the overall economy. I welcome industry’s commitment to the creation of a digital company ID solution and the boost that this will deliver to the UK economy.”