Paradigm shifts with mobile devices

Mobey Forum was founded 25 years ago. We had a planning meeting today for the founders' panel discussion at the meeting hosted by UBS in Zurich in June. My input:

• In year 2000 we were working for a paradigm shift in banking – a joint effort between leading banks, VISA, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and many others to take payments and other e-banking services together with e-identification services and e-invoicing from computers to everybody’s pocket (always there & always on).

• The identity “wallet” then was a SIM-card shaped bank-issued VISA-branded card to be used for payments and identification - with open standards to allow customers to easily change bank, handset and teleoperator. Due to market problems for handset manufacturers, it did not move forward from successful POCs. Significant other progress has been made over 25 years.

• In year 2025 we are working for a much bigger paradigm shift – the enabling of exchange of verified data with all parties with the help of - already available - de-facto EUDIW interoperable general purpose wallets for legal and natural persons. So that the banks’ corporate and private customers can get verifiable data needed for their business and life events to their identity building wallets from all issuers. Banks need verified data from customers in all services and customers need data from the banks – starting from the IBAN-credential.

• And furthermore, now it is also clear that Identity wallets are needed when employing, empowering and controlling wallet-bearing AI-agents. A big role for banks to see to it that e- and m-banking provide the credentials and tools needed here.

So while celebrating and amazing journey we should take into account that the audience is now very fired up by the next paradigm shift – to be heralded by the dynamic IDWallet&AI-agent duos.