GPSJ Autumn 2024 ONLINE - Flipbook - Page 22
GPSJ
TRANSPORT
Multimodal biometric identity verification
will give more and more citizens their
legitimate ticket to ride
By Edouard Baussier, Global Mobility
and Travel Director, IDnow
Take a stroll around
any thriving European
city and you’ll see its
inhabitants navigating
the streets in many
different ways.
Edouard Baussier
Shared mobility solutions are
more popular than ever: the
Fluctuo European Shared
Mobility Annual Review
2023 reports that 600 million
trips were made using
930,000 vehicles such as
e-bikes and scooters across
the continent last year,
representing a 10% increase
on 2022’s journey count
However, it’s a sad fact that as
this Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
offering continues its inexorable
rise, so does the likelihood of
misuse and fraudulent activity. It is
vital for MaaS providers that their
users confirm their identity and
their ability or right to ride or drive
a vehicle before they use one of
their modes of transport because
of their liability in the event of an
accident. For some cases, the
verification of driving licences is
needed.
As MaaS services continue to
grow, biometrics will play a key
role in proving people’s identity,
keeping services safe and reliable
for all.
MaaS and fraud: the role
of biometrics in combating
identity misuse
If a bad actor uses a stolen
document or identity, a fraudulent
form of identification or deepfake
technology to circumvent verification
checks and access or pay for a
MaaS service, the relationship
between the two is doomed from
the start.
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The MaaS operator is ultimately
responsible for whether its users
are old enough or have the requisite
licence to operate its vehicle, so
they need to be able to trust them
Advanced identity verification
using biometrics implemented
during the onboarding phase for
new users combats this. Electronic
Know Your Customer (eKYC)
solutions containing advanced
biometric checks make it extremely
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL AUTUMN 2024
difficult for a person to impersonate
another, which means that the
provider can trust the new user’s
identity. The potential for human
error when verifying identity is
also eliminated and legitimate
users enjoy a smooth, friction-free
introduction to the service.
Fraudulent activity is not
restricted to the onboarding of
new customers. Refund and
compensation claims can also be
malicious and so require verification.
Again, identity verification
technology can ascertain the device
on which an account was created
and the behaviours of its users,
before flagging any suspicious
activity.
Another type of scam facing MaaS
is account takeover fraud, which
has increased by 85% according to
UK Finance’s 2024 Fraud Report.
During account takeover fraud, a
