Homebuying ID firm joins FCA's regulatory sandbox

The MyIdentity scheme aims to make home buying and selling a safer digital process. Since its Beta was first announced, it has received support from estate agents, conveyancers, brokers and lenders.

Under the MyIdentity scheme, home buyers and sellers will no longer be repeatedly asked to give their details to all the parties involved in the chain of transactions. This move means quicker completions and more control over how consumers share their identity details.

The trust scheme for home buyers and sellers already has five identity providers participating in the Beta and Mvine providing the central hub that helps make the system work.

Work on MyIdentity started in 2019 and 2022 is set to be a defining year for the scheme. The current Beta is focused on improving standards around identity, which is key to this improvement, as a recent report by one identity service provider, Onfido, highlighted that the average ID fraud rate was 5.9% over 2021, compared to an average rate of 4.1% in 2019.

Stuart Young, managing director at Etive, said: “For it to succeed, it is crucial that home buyers and sellers have full confidence in the MyIdentity scheme. We are making good progress within the sector, and we now want to go further by testing in the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox. This will help brokers and lenders to adopt the MyIdentity standards in a more secure and controlled environment.

“The Beta involves leading identity providers and our choice of using proven technology from Mvine underlines the priority we are placing on delivering a workable solution for the home buying and selling sector."