As mortgage advisers we have certain important responsibilities, one of which is verifying the clients applying for funds are who they say they are. Buying property is a great way for anyone with questionable intentions to launder money, so it’s REALLY important that the possibility of any of our clients being involved in that kind of criminal activity is thoroughly checked out!

But the process of validating an individual's identity and address hasn’t really evolved at all in the last 25 years, particularly when you consider the technology explosion that has happened over the same timescale. Yes, there have been some slight improvements in information accessibility over that time but in the main we’re still asking clients for their passports and utility bills in the same way we were back in the 90s.

Until now, perhaps.

Cue a UK technology company called Yoti, who are aiming to become the World’s Trusted identity system for individuals and businesses by creating a free smartphone app that lets anyone create a digital identity with their smartphone and a government issued document. According to their website, www.Yoti.com anyone can set themselves up in 90 seconds although the validation of their Government documents may take a few minutes longer.

Data security is key, of course, but one of the unique details with this biometric identity is that your data can only be decrypted by the key on your smartphone. Data is not stored in the Cloud or any other vulnerable ‘hackers delight’ system. The information that passes between the individual and Yoti is subject to multiple layers of encryption, controlled by a user key only held on that phone. The Directors of the company have their roots in one of the largest and most successful online gambling groups in the UK, so their methods of data security have already been tried and tested in other sectors that have to stand up to seriously close scrutiny. You can be comfortable that your personal details are not going to end up on a data spreadsheet somewhere waiting for an advertising company to buy them and bombard you with unwanted offers for stair lifts and holiday villas!

Once you get your head around the idea that you possess a securely verified e-identity on your phone, avoiding the need to carry around important, original documents that you really DON'T want to risk losing, you realise the possibilities for its use are almost endless. Yoti anticipate the system proving popular in a number of sectors, healthcare, recruitment, property management, online dating, online marketplaces, financial services, retail & nightclubs, are just a few. And it's not just about proving you're over 18, the theory is that this could be the best way to guarantee a safe online chat-room environment for our children.

For us, we’re hugely excited to be running a trial alongside our standard Anti-Money Laundering processes to see if this could be the evolution we’ve been waiting 20 years for. If we’re successful and it means clients no longer have to come in with their passport and Council Tax bill then it would be a major improvement for all concerned and we’ll be proud to have played our part in dragging our industry one step further into the technological revolution!