5G to harness app development in digital verification and signature – Naveen Chava, CEO, Idsign

The mobile phones today are the smartest devices with not just connectivity, but also biometrics for verification like facial/voice recognition and fingerprint authentication, pin pad for payments, OTP verification etc., giving seamless, reduced cycle times and digital access from anywhere. Mobile phones are the easiest devices available for VIDEO KYC which are needed for Digital onboarding irrespective of the geographic limitations. Coverage of geographic boundaries is required for travel mostly which requires detailed traveler information like his current address, emergency contacts etc., which is always outdated & needs to be dynamically updated. In a way, the mobile phone of today is the device for verifiable identity as well as a payment terminal. The user base is the standard of valuation for businesses now and the growth user base is mostly coming from mobile phones whose count will be same as the world population soon.

With the advent of 5G, the payments, eretail and ecommerce will continue to grow along with the mobile usage and growth. With 5G coming, we will have data speeds much faster than most of us see on our desktops/laptops or on broadbands and deliver higher multi-gbps peak data speeds, massive network capacity, with a more uniform and Higher performance and reliability, improved efficiency will empower new user experiences across existing and new industries. NB-IOT and Cat-m technologies will account for close to 45 percent of cellular IOT connections in 2024. emerging industries with new additional devices like IOT devices, drones for emergency services, remote surgeries, Autonomous driving and many others will connect everything and everyone. 5G will expand the mobile ecosystem to new industries and cutting-edge user experiences such as boundless extreme reality (XR), seamless IOT capabilities, new enterprise applications, local interactive content and instant cloud access etc.

Digital identity management will be the key to protect online usage whether it is for shopping or mission critical communication or any transaction. Authentication should be seamless to the user and at the same time, digital verification should happen instantly. The users should have the ability to choose as many levels of authentication whether it is biometric, pin based or OTP based verification. All of this is possible with seamless apps which are able to utilize ultra-low latency, more reliability and increased availability of network enabled by 5G Cellular network which not possible in the past due to low data rates.

The need for Digital signatures exists in all verticals of travel, banking, financial transactions, land transactions, employee verification, welfare scheme disbursements, healthcare, insurance claims, employee remote onboarding and corporate transactions. next step is to enable Digital verification and onboarding of customers, agents, vendors where KYC of any stakeholder is needed with real-time authentication and onboarding possible on mobile and done instantly with a network and data bandwidths available over 5G. Imagine ID verification needed for not just ecommerce or Cab companies, it is needed for every corporate for employees, their agents their customers who are buying, selling and delivering which requires a lot of cellular airtime that is possible with 5G. Digital signed authenticated documents from doctor, diagnostic labs or government might become a basic document for people to cross borders or go to work at their office in the future and this is what is possible with 5G network coverage.

These could be regularly happening transactions like legally binding contracts or agreements, financial submissions or one time Instant e-consent or e-sign for additional product selling within bank, NBFC or platforms can also be done. The vision of bank onboarding and instant bank account access is possible with 5G without the need of a physical visit. The leap to an all-digital world of e-signed contracts, digital identity, truly digital banking, digital vehicle identity will be cut short by a at least a few years and instead of 2030 a lot more adoption will happen in 2021 itself because of the pandemic. ■