Jul 4 2005
Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) today called for an amendment to the ID Cards Bill to help finance institutions in the on-going fight against fraud.

The amendment, tabled as the ID cards debate moves to committee stage, proposes access for lenders to the ID Cards Register when verifying credentials for credit applications.

“The current wording of the Bill suggests that commercial organisations may not be able to access the ID Card Register or insist upon customers identifying themselves by reference to the Register or production of their card,” explains Ashley Holmes, FLA’s Head of Legal Affairs and Policy Development.

“As drafted, the Bill would mean that lenders would continue to be forced to take other forms of identification such as passports, which may be more ‘unreliable’ and prone to fraud – which would seem to conflict with the Government’s wish to prevent money laundering and fraud. We therefore support the amendment and urge Government to accept it.”

FLA welcomes the introduction of ID cards as a potentially valuable tool in the prevention of fraud – which costs the financial services industry millions of pounds annually - but only if the system for their use is watertight as a secure and reliable means of verification over and above existing forms of ID currently being used.

It has asked to be closely involved with the Home Office on the practicalities of implementation of the scheme and also wants to see:

full data-sharing between the public and private sectors to ensure its accuracy finance suppliers to have access to ‘readers’ via an accredited licensing system implementation of an informal arrangement with the authorities to ensure financial institutions are never knowingly provided with false information

FLA has also asked for a fuller explanation of what biometric information the card will carry; how the information will be stored, checked, and read; and whether and when new technology will outdate information or methods.

For full details of FLA’s proposed amendment to the Bill and its recommendations and observations about the practicalities of ID cards and the ID Register, visit www.fla.org.uk