The Post Office, and its partner Yoti, have been approved by the government as the UK’s first certified digital identity service providers.
The partners provide a free-to-use app that combines customers’ personal data and biometrics to create a secure, reusable ID on their phone, and in-branch services for those customers who do not have access to a smartphone or who prefer face-to-face contact when asked to confirm their identity.
Using the free Post Office Easy ID app or Yoti ID app, people can complete their identity checks digitally to prove their Right to Work, as well as their Right to Rent, and can use the apps for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Elinor Hull, Post Office Identity Services Director, said: “At a time when the hospitality and retail sectors in particular are struggling to recruit and get staff onto the shop floor, the ability to digitally check candidates’ right to work speeds up the recruitment process, is more secure and could enable them to start sooner than if the candidate has to travel and then have their documents photocopied and physically checked.”
John Abbott, Chief Commercial Officer at Yoti, said: “Being one of the first identity companies to be certified shows our commitment to the market and is a testament to the quality of our digital identity technology. Certification represents the gold standard of Digital Identity service provision with security and privacy prioritised, meaning clients should have no concerns about GDPR.”
Hull added: “Post Office and Yoti in partnership are the one-stop shop for identity services – the only provider that offers digital identity services via web and app, but also provides in-branch verification services for people unable, or choose not to, do so online.”
