Verifiable Business Credentials: Solving the Corporate Authority Crisis
*Please note that these thought leadership pieces represent the views of the contributing companies and do not necessarily reflect techUK’s own position.
The Authentication Crisis in B2B Transactions
UK businesses face mounting fraud challenges, with the Annual Fraud Indicator 2023 estimating private sector losses at £157.8 billion annually. A significant portion involves procurement fraud and unauthorised representation - fundamental issues of proving who genuinely has authority to act on behalf of a company.
Building Verification for Business Credentials
Vidos has developed verification infrastructure specifically for corporate identity and authority delegation. Drawing from experience including participation in the EBSI-VECTOR pilot program, work with financial institutions requiring complex KYB processes, integration with enterprise identity management systems from companies like Ping Identity, implementation of vLEI (verifiable Legal Entity Identifier) standards, and participation in FCA digital and Central Bank of Ireland innovation sandboxes focusing on digital identity for financial crime prevention, the platform addresses critical business requirements: verifying complete delegation chains from board authority through to individual representatives, ensuring instant revocation when roles change, and supporting multiple credential standards as different sectors adopt varying approaches.
When a finance director authorises a procurement manager to sign contracts up to £5 million, this creates a verifiable credential chain. If that manager's authority changes or employment ends, revocation happens instantly across all verification points - preventing unauthorised transactions during role transitions.
Current Market Applications
Corporate KYB Enhancement
Financial institutions reduce onboarding time from weeks to hours. The platform verifies business credentials from multiple sources, adapting to whichever standards their corporate clients adopt.
Invoice and Payment Verification
With UK e-invoicing mandates approaching and Making Tax Digital expanding, businesses need verified digital identities for automated processing. Verification confirms that invoices and payment instructions come from authorised representatives, addressing the impersonation fraud that plagues B2B payments.
Cross-Border Trade
UK exporters working with EU partners face different digital identity requirements in each market. Standards-agnostic verification enables them to verify counterparty credentials regardless of format.
Bridging Business Identity Frameworks
Business credentials solve a fundamental problem: proving who genuinely has authority to act on behalf of a company. Corporate impersonation and unauthorised representation underpin billions in fraud annually. When someone claims to represent a business - whether signing contracts, accessing accounts, or authorising payments - verifiers need cryptographic proof, not just an email domain or business card.
Multiple initiatives are now developing business wallet solutions. The WE BUILD consortium is advancing a European Business Wallet for B2B and legal representation. The UK's Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) is exploring digital identity for financial services. Each framework addresses the same core need - verifiable proof of corporate authority - but with different technical approaches aligned to their regulatory contexts.
This diversity of standards is beneficial for organisations. Companies can choose credential frameworks that align with their regulatory obligations, industry requirements, or operational preferences. A UK bank might issue credentials through Trust Framework providers, while their German subsidiary uses European Business Wallets, and both can verify counterparties using either standard.
The cost of waiting for perfect standards alignment far exceeds the benefits of implementing verification infrastructure today. Businesses already losing millions to fraud and inefficient KYB processes can start verifying digital credentials now, then expand support as new standards emerge. Starting with available solutions and iterating beats waiting for a perfect standard that may never materialise.
Vidos provides the interoperability layer that makes this ecosystem work. The platform verifies business credentials regardless of their source - whether from emerging European Business Wallets, UK Trust Framework providers, CFIT initiatives, or other frameworks. This means organisations can issue credentials on their terms while still accepting credentials from any standards-compliant source.
When it comes to digital credential acceptance, Vidos enables the verification that makes trusted B2B commerce possible. Companies prove their representatives' authority through verifiable credentials rather than vulnerable traditional methods, dramatically reducing impersonation fraud while enabling instant verification across borders.
Business credentials transform how companies prove authority and representation. The variety of emerging standards gives organisations choice in how they issue credentials. Our role is ensuring all these standards work together seamlessly, so businesses can verify any credential through one integration, regardless of which wallet or framework it comes from.
- Tim Boeckmann, CEO, Vidos
