CULedger, a builder of blockchain-based products for credit unions backed by the Credit Union National Association and Mountain west Credit Union League, has partnered with Evernym to launch MyCUID, a product intended to help credit union members prevent fraud and identity theft.
"We created MyCUID as a global digital identifier that permits our members to securely interact with their credit union," CULedger President and CEO John Ainsworth said in a statement. “By giving individuals control over their personal identifiable information, MyCUID will create a truly secure and privacy-preserving flow of information."
MyCUID will use a “person-to-person network of distributed, private agents working in parallel with the distributed ledger to give credit union members a lifetime portable digital identity that does not depend on any central authority.”
By enabling selective disclosure, CULegder added, identity owners “can control how much data is shared in a particular context.”
CULedger cited that according to a new Javelin Strategy & Research Study, identity fraud is at an all-time high with 16.7 million U.S. victims affected in 2017.
"There are approximately 2 billion consumers that are considered underbanked or underserved across the globe,” said World Council of Credit Unions President and CEO Brian Branch. “With the support of MyCUID, credit unions worldwide will be uniquely positioned to serve the financial needs of consumers."
Evernym will leverage the Sovrin Network -- the only distributed ledger purpose-built for identity – to develop technologies that allow any individual, organization or connected device to establish and maintain a digital identity that is permanent, portable, privacy-enhancing and completely secure.
“Self-sovereign identity will change the very nature of the relationship that companies have with their customers, and I couldn't think of a more fitting match for this breakthrough than credit unions, who know more about creating strong relationships than just about anybody,” said Evernym CEO Timothy Ruff. “Building MyCUID with the long-term benefit of the world’s more than 235 million credit union members in mind has been a vital process for Evernym. This is bound to have a profound impact on the financial lives of a great many consumers."
