Clear takes its 1-step ID verification to financial services

Having a secure identity is more important than ever, given rising cybercrime. But for most of us, going through the repetitive task of verifying our identity and credit score when applying for something as simple as a gift card has gotten to be a major hassle.

Removing this friction, which occurs everywhere from checking in for a doctor's appointment to opening a bank account, has been the mission of Clear. The publicly traded company has already made life easier of millions of airline travelers with its airport check-in kiosks.

If the decision makers at Clear have their way, the ease of clearing airport check-in by scanning a boarding pass at a kiosk instead of a waiting in line for a manned identity check will extend to financial services, health care facilities and other businesses.

A mission takes shape

Owners Ken Cornick and Caryn Seidman-Becker recognized the potential when they purchased Clear out of bankruptcy in 2009 and relaunched the company in 2010.

"We thought identity had the ability to change behavior and improve customer service, and at the same time improve security," Cornick, president and CEO of Clear, said during the recent Money20/20 show in Las Vegas, where he was interviewed on stage at the Venetian Expo by Scarlett Sieber, Money 20/20's chief strategy and growth officer.

What they didn't realize at the time was how long it would take to establish the brand. Denver and Orlando were the first airports to offer Clear kiosks, followed by San Francisco in 2012. It took several years to build out the airport network along with several sports stadiums.

Today, with more than 17,000 members and a nationwide presence in airports, Clear is taking the next step in expanding to other industries.

"We're just now getting to the expansion outside of airports," Cornick said.

An acquistion offers opportunity

To this end, Clear recently acquired Sora ID, another provider of compliant, reusable ID verification, with a strong presence in the financial services industry. Sora ID serves customers such as Zero Hash, a service that allows customers to trade crypto, send and receive assets, pay with and earn crypto.

Sora ID, also based in New York City, enhances Clear's KYC functionality and provides an entrée to the financial services community. Zora Hash, for example, supports Shift4, a provider of payment devices, PCI-validated point-to-point encryption, mobile and contactless technologies, reporting, business intelligence and more.

Cornick sees financial services as the "most addressed" market for identity verification.

"We see a lot of parallels between travel and financial services," he said.

At the airport, Clear binds the customer's fingerprint and iris scan to their driver's license and boarding pass. Once a customer becomes a Clear member and has a portable identity, they enter what Cornick called a "physical fast lane" at the airport. Clear members go to a kiosk, known as a "pod," to verify their identities by pressing a touchpad or looking into an iris scanner. A Clear "ambassador" then takes them past the identity screening line to baggage screening and metal detectors for their TSA check.

Where existing Clear is a physical fast lane, he sees the next stage of growth in a digital fast lane.

Meeting a customer need

More than 40% of customers abandon the traditional know-your-customer sign up process because of how long it takes, Cornick said. The Clear solution allows the customer to complete the process once and not have to repeat all the steps every time they need to verify their identity.

Post 9/11, "that what made you more secure by definition detracted from customer experience," he said. It was an "either/or" proposition. Clear's mission, in Cornick's words, is to make security and customer experience an "and" proposition.

"You're trying to minimize fraud, but you're also trying to maximize conversion, and so that friction, that 40% drop-off you see when you're 'KYCing' your client, that's the tradeoff. We think we can create the 'and.'

"In the financial services space, you have a similar trade off," he said. "It's 'either/or,' and we're trying to create the 'and.' We thought biometrics and identity specifically could create the 'and.'"

Cornick met the Sora ID team a year ago and found they had a similar vision around networked identity.

Within financial services, Cornick said Clear will find the greatest use in consumer facing scenarios. He used the term, "B2B2C."

The journey begins

Clear already provides authentication identity on LinkedIn in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which covers 240 million people.

From the LinkedIn app, a member can affirm their identity with the Clear Verified (formerly known as Powered by Clear) platform and add a visible indicator to their LinkedIn profile showing the member's identity has been verified by Clear.

A member can also verify their identity on LinkedIn by taking a selfie. If they are not a Clear member, they can enroll as a "platform member," a free membership they can use to validate their identity within the LinkedIn app.

Clear also benefits LinkedIn users in other ways: Clear members get 60% more profile views if they are verified on LinkedIn and 50% more comments and 30% more professional messages, Cornick said. In addition, 35% of the members who are verified are already Clear members.

Further expansion

Beyond financial services, health care, another highly regulated industry, will be another expansion.

"We want to do away with the clipboard…there's a lot of wasted time on both sides," Cornick said with regard to health care check-in. "There's no friction when those users are using in the health care space."

The University of Miami Health System already uses Clear for its digital "front door" which includes account creation, login and password reset.

Meanwhile, customer word of mouth has continues to be the biggest business driver for Clear.

"Network ID is the name of the game for us," Cornick said. "We bring almost 20 million verified members on our platform to the table."

From its inception, the company owners recognized that its portable ID verification technology can empower commerce in a variety of industries.