Mastercard, Microsoft to Collaborate on Digital Identity Service

“…their service will be focused on the areas of financial services, digital commerce, government services, and consumer-focused online services like music streaming and social media.”

Mastercard and Microsoft have announced that they’re teaming up on a digital identity project.

What exactly this project will entail is pretty vague at the moment. In a statement, the companies asserted that their aim is “to give people a secure, instant way to verify their digital identity with whomever they want, whenever they want.” This will be realized via a service that allows individuals to manage their identity data “on the devices they use every day.”

The companies also asserted that their service will be focused on the areas of financial services, digital commerce, government services, and consumer-focused online services like music streaming and social media.

Elaborating further, Mastercard cyber and intelligence solutions president Ajay Bhalla indicated that the firms are going to try to make this service universal in its scope, decrying the fact that “[t]oday’s digital identity landscape is patchy, inconsistent and what works in one country often won’t work in another.” Microsoft Identity VP Joy Chik, meanwhile, said the partnership will deliver “new decentralized identity innovations”.

The service will run on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. As for the rest of the details, those will be announced “in the coming months,” the companies said.