As fintech innovation accelerates across Asia, digital identity has become the foundation of trust between financial institutions and their customers.
Every digital interaction, whether it is onboarding a new customer, authorizing a transaction, or accessing financial services, ultimately comes down to confidently knowing who is on the other side of the screen.
Financial scams and digital fraud are increasingly impacting financial institutions and their customers. The role of digital identity authentication and protection cannot be overemphasized.
We learn more about digital identity innovations from Johan Fantenberg, Director, Ping Identity.
As fintech disruption accelerates across Asia, trust has become the defining competitive edge for financial institutions. What role does digital identity play in building trust?
Johan Fantenberg (JF): Asia Pacific’s identity verification market is expected to record a CAGR of 15.83% through 2032, reflecting the strong need for digital identity as the new layer of security.
A strong digital identity framework allows banks and fintechs to reduce fraud while delivering seamless customer experiences. It enables institutions to move beyond static credentials like passwords and toward adaptive, risk-based authentication that continuously verifies users without adding friction.
In a region as diverse and fast-moving as Asia, where customers expect speed and convenience, this balance between security and usability is critical.
Ultimately, trust is built when customers feel protected without feeling restricted. Digital identity is what makes that possible, allowing financial institutions to scale securely, comply with regulatory expectations, and differentiate themselves through safer, more intuitive digital experiences.
How is risk-based and contextual authentication reshaping fraud protection without sacrificing user experience?
JF: Risk-based and contextual authentication fundamentally change how organizations think about fraud prevention by shifting security from a one-size-fits-all approach to one that adapts in real time. Instead of forcing every user through the same rigid checks, organizations can assess risk dynamically using signals such as device health, location, behavior, and the context of the transaction.
This allows financial institutions and digital platforms to apply stronger authentication only when something looks unusual, while letting low-risk users move through seamlessly. The result is a significant reduction in fraud without the friction that often frustrates customers and leads to abandoned transactions.
From a user experience perspective, this approach builds trust rather than eroding it. Customers are protected when it matters most, but they are not constantly challenged or interrupted. That balance is critical in today’s digital economy, where security must be both invisible and effective to support growth and loyalty.
What role does digital identity play in expanding financial inclusion, especially for unbanked and underbanked populations in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam?
JF: Digital identity plays a critical role in expanding financial inclusion by removing many of the traditional barriers that have excluded people from formal financial systems. In markets like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, large segments of the population are mobile-first but lack formal documentation, fixed addresses, or credit histories.
Digital identity, specifically decentralized identity frameworks, shifts control of identity credentials to individuals, using alternative signals and trusted digital credentials to verify and authenticate users securely.
By leveraging decentralized identity, which is often mobile-based and possesses adaptive authentication and progressive verification, banks and financial institutions can onboard customers more quickly and safely without requiring extensive paperwork or in-person visits. This lowers the cost of serving underserved communities while still meeting regulatory and fraud prevention requirements.
More importantly, digital identity supports trust at scale. When users can consistently prove who they are across services, they gain access not just to payments, but to savings, credit, insurance, and broader digital ecosystems. That continuity is essential for building long-term inclusion and economic participation across Southeast Asia.
What is the connection between identity and open banking / open finance infrastructure?
JF: Identity is the trust layer that makes open banking and open finance possible. As data is shared across banks, fintechs, and third-party providers through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), the fundamental question becomes who is accessing the data, with what consent, and for how long. Digital identity ensures that access is authenticated, authorized, and continuously governed across this ecosystem.
Strong identity controls enable secure customer consent, enforce least-privilege access, and protect APIs from misuse or credential abuse. Without this, open finance increases exposure to fraud, data leakage, and impersonation risks. Identity also allows institutions to manage non-human identities such as APIs, services, and applications, which are increasingly central to open finance models.
In practice, open banking only works when customers trust that their data is shared securely and transparently. Digital identity provides that assurance, allowing innovation to scale without compromising security, privacy, or regulatory compliance.
How can financial leaders balance innovation, compliance, and customer experience as demand for digital services continues to grow in Asia?
JF: Balancing innovation, compliance, and customer experience starts with recognizing that these priorities are not in conflict when identity is done right. In Asia, customers expect fast, mobile-first services, while regulators expect strong controls around security, privacy, and fraud. Digital identity sits at the intersection of all three.
By adopting modern, identity-first frameworks, financial institutions can embed security and compliance into the user journey rather than layering them on afterward. This enables consistent policy enforcement, strong authentication, and auditability without slowing down innovation or adding unnecessary friction for customers.
The leaders who succeed will be those who view identity as a strategic enabler, not a control mechanism. When identity is adaptive, interoperable, and designed around user trust, organizations can scale digital services confidently while meeting regulatory obligations and delivering services that customers want to use.
