In this live episode of The Connector Podcast recorded at the Digital Finance Summit 2022, host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews Sylvie van der Velde, Chief Marketing Officer and early team member of itsme (now eID.me). Sylvie explains the company’s founding vision of a universal digital identity platform, the rapid evolution of technology to meet societal needs, and the strategic use of biometrics for secure onboarding and KYC. She details how COVID accelerated digital adoption, citing interaction growth from 3 million to over 35 million monthly, and how itsme’s interoperable design now serves 24 different sectors, from banking to health and gaming. The conversation moves to cross‑border expansion into the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the role of the eIDAS regulation, and the distinction between qualified electronic signatures (already EU‑wide) and identity recognition (still country‑by‑country). Sylvie outlines the emerging “KYC 2.0” model where a single, mutualised identity can be reused across partners, with additional attributes (driving licence, health data) managed in a hybrid architecture—centralised identity data combined with decentralised attribute sources. She stresses the importance of collaboration with regulators, technology partners, and citizens, describing the “aligned planets” of legislation, fast‑moving tech, and user trust as the secret sauce behind itsme’s success. The episode closes with reflections on open data, the balance between personalization and privacy, and the higher purpose driving the ecosystem.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Koen Vanderhoydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets. This episode is proudly sponsored by Fintech Belgium, the digital finance association by and for fintechs. Live from the Digital Finance Summit 2022.
A warm welcome, Sylvie.
Hello.
Hello. I'm so pleased to have you on our podcast. And what is so brilliant is that today it's the Digital Finance Summit here in Belgium. A lot of people, a lot of things are buzzing, and I get some personal time with you. Can you tell me a little bit more about yourself and what do you do?
So my name is Sylvie van der Velde. I'm a Chief Marketing Officer at itsme and also spokesperson. And I started working at itsme me in 2016. So before we were able to say the word out loud.
Aha. So you were part of the initial team, if I may say.
Yeah.
Yeah. So are you like the employee with the number?
Maybe number 5 or 6. I should check that.
Okay. Well, very pleased to have you in our podcast today. And we will talk a little bit about, well, it's me, but also technology in general. So, yeah, we're heading towards the end of 2022 and a lot has happened in the tech space. So I was wondering, how do you look at, well, 2023 and the future in technology?
Well, for me, technology is something that needs to evolve together with the needs of the society we're living in. So technology is evolving fast, sometimes a little bit too fast. too fast for a lot of persons. But I think we need to use the technology at its best. And we have seen some great evolutions in the past and in the last few years that we can actually enable better ones in the future.
And do you see any particular trends in technology, certain technology stacks or solutions that are gaining more traction than others?
Well, at ISMEE, we're also looking at biometrics. So to see how we can actually use biometrics to secure also digital identity or the KYC process or the onboarding process, not only secure it, but make it easier, especially when you change phone, because that happens quite a lot. So we are actually looking to the new technologies coming into the market. There are some really great ones. And in biometrics, I think there are great evolutions.
How cool. I guess we'll hear more about that later in this talk. Now, for me, looking back in time, since I already started with that question, Corona has changed a lot in industry, and some say that it kickstarted digital transformation. So you are a company that deals with a lot of the financial institutions that deal with end customers. So maybe a bit of a sneaky question, but do you see a difference in digital adaptation between different companies? And you don't have to call names, obviously.
Well, actually, I would not say that COVID kickstarted it, just accelerated it. We saw also in the number of interactions that it's So in March 2019, we were around 3 million interactions per month.
Wow.
One year later, it was 6 million. One year later, it was 13 million. And one year later, it was 25 million. So actually, we see that the acceleration continues. It didn't stop. We had some peaks around 35 million It's Me interactions in one month. So it was not kickstarted, it was accelerated. And I think it was a very good thing that we started before COVID because we could help a lot of companies in the financial industry, for example, because we were all at home. So the KYC process, opening a bank account, securing a bank account was not possible anymore because all the branches were closed. So we could help all our partners to do that from, well, from where they were, from home or from somewhere else. So we were very happy that we could play that role in 2020. So at the first part and in 2021, when it was more a COVID-safe moments where we all needed the app and the QR code to go on holiday. So there we had also a second impact. It was not in the financial sector, but it was more in society.
You already answered my question because I was thinking like there's a lot of figures in the financial industry, but it's— Mii goes so much further than financial institutions. And I think that's part of the growth formula. And you basically just explained it. Why are there any other growth factors that you would say in that exponential growth that you just elaborate a little bit on?
Well, I think it was also the way that we conceptualized itsme. It needs to be for everyone and for every sector. So the interoperability was important. So it's not only financial sector, the governmental sector, but also the insurances, the health sector. We also have the online gaming sector, also very strictly regulated. But you could also book a flight with itsme. So there are many use cases. We have around 24 different sectors, I think.
Wow.
So it was very important to be interoperable between different industries because identity is important everywhere, but in a different manner.
Okay. Well, thank you for clarifying that. So maybe I'll come back to my cheesy question. It's about comparing. So now, now you told us that there's many industries that you serve. Do you see a difference between those industries? And again, you don't have to call names.
I think there is a— the digital maturity is different. It's like different countries or different industries. Some industries a little bit further. It also depends on the financial power of each industry. We also, in the health industry, it's a little bit more difficult to have the same financial power, I would say, than in a banking industry or the finance industry. And the maturity can be different, but we see them all evolve. In a very good way, and also with with citizen in mind. So that's also a thing that we like to see: that is very much user-centric and thinking about its privacy and its security and inconvenience.
Well, and interesting. And maybe you open up another debate. Well, we as Belgians at least we know it's me as our product to log in, to sign, and to other stuff. But you also now said that there are different countries involved. So Does that mean that it's going outside its own boundaries? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Yeah, we already went one step, I would say, to the north, to the Netherlands. Also thanks to technology. We were talking about technology and how it makes things easier and faster. Because in the Netherlands, they have an NFC ID card. And so we're using that technology next to biometrics to onboard our Dutch citizens. Citizens into the eID.me app. So we started in the Netherlands, Luxembourg will also follow. So actually, once you have a digital identity as eID.me, that you log in as a Belgian or a Dutch or a Luxembourgish citizen, it's always the same action. And also the qualified electronic signature. We are actually quite unique for that in Europe, is that we will combine identity services and signing services within one app.
And then between the lines is the ambition is to go across the other countries as well. So it's not only Benelux, because it Nicely, it's called the Benelux, the countries you mentioned, but it's also to go abroad. It's depending on the speed of the other countries, I would say. Is that right?
It's not only the speed of the other countries, but also speed of legislation. So we have the eIDAS regulation for the moment, and they're working on the new version where actually when you're recognized in one country, you could also serve the citizens of other countries. For the moment, it's country-based. So we are recognized as a level of assurance high identity mean for Belgians. But not for in the Netherlands, not in Luxembourg, because it needs to be a recognition country by country. So the new regulation will also make sure that once you're recognized in one country, all the other countries will recognize it. The same that it's today for qualified signatories. So our qualified signatories are recognized all over Europe. So it will help us to go broader than just Belgium.
I'm happy you clarified that because I learned something today also. Because for me, eIDAS was already one of the first regulations that literally was crossing borders. But then this was specifically on qualified signatures and maybe not on identity. I didn't know that.
And that's the first part, and it's very linked to governments. So actually, it's me has been recognized in December 2019 on European level. So it means that as a Belgian, if you're living in France and you want to log in at French public service, you click on the ADAS button and then you see actually the eID card or it's me because these are the 2 recognized ones.
Super, super nice. Maybe a little bit of a sidetrack and taking it towards a more global discussion. A lot of things have happened in the realms of KYC and yeah, it feels for me that we're heading into a new kind of KYC. I call it maybe 2.0, but it can cover a lot of things. How do you look at it? Do you see KYC changing and have you experienced any changes in the market?
Well, I think we accelerated the KYC process because we mutualize actually identities. So the only-once moment, you only have to do your KYC once at itsme and then you can reuse it at each partner of itsme. And I think it will evolve. evolve because it's not only about identity. There are much more data that are needed when you do a KYC process, especially in the banks, but also in other sectors. If you go to the rental sector, you need to have your identity but also your driving license. So I think that KYC will evolve and that other data are needed during your onboarding process. So we are looking at these elements too. We want to stay, of course, in identity, but we want to link with the right attributes That actually a user could do everything in just one click and one confirmation instead of gathering all the information to onboard.
Well, that's on its own, right? Everyone talks about blockchain, and I don't want to bring up the blockchain discussion, but more the philosophy where you bring data collectively together and you basically use it from one single source. And that makes a lot of sense also in KYC. Now, I guess one of the challenges is not only on individual level, but also on legal entities. Is that a domain that itsme is looking at, or is it a deliberate choice not to go there?
No, actually we're looking at, but we will never do it alone because we really think that collaboration is important. Everybody has also its own strength. And it's actually linking the right data to the right source because all the source about who has a company, and who is the legal owner of the company, you need to know who is the person and then link it to the right company.
Absolutely.
It's the same for the company, for mandates, for driving license, for health information. So that's why we're looking at it in a hybrid form. So the digital identity will stay centralized, but all the other information, the attributes, the mandates will be decentralized because they have also their own lifecycle management. You could be the CEO of a company today and having tomorrow another company. or having another CEO. So this has also a lifecycle management that needs to be handled in the data source. So we think that each data needs to be in its source and needs to be handled there. But sharing this data in a secure way is something where that is me wants to handle on.
Okay, I think that makes sense. And I think you're definitely right with the cyclist type of behavior in terms of ultimate beneficial owners. And also there, there is legislation that forces countries to come out with lists, but unfortunately not all countries are doing it at the same pace. So it is a challenge for the industry. And then it's also some of these discussions that are very tough to understand for a bank because they're like, why is it not there? And it's simply not there for various reasons. So it's nice to hear that also you guys are working on that.
But it's challenging for everyone, also for governments, because they own the data, how they can open up the data. in a secure way and that it's readable for everyone. The data structure is also most of the time a very huge challenge.
Absolutely. And to keep it up to date and you name it. Well, Sylvie, what is interesting about the story about itsme, you gave us figures, exponential growth, but I saw on the website that you collaborate with so many different types of clients, financials, SMEs, well, you name it. So I was wondering myself, what has been the secret sauce? Is it the technology or has it been the collaboration with all these people?
That's a good question. Actually, it's about planets that need to be aligned because you have the planet where you have legislation and government. Most of the time it's a really big planet that's not moving really fast, but it's an important one because they will put the regulation into place and the governance. You have the technology, it was going very fast. And I would say in between you have also the users and the citizens. And I think that the magic of it was timing, having the right partners around the table, everybody also open-minded to work to a higher purpose. It was not only for the banking sector, not only for the telco sector, not only for the governments, but it was for society and it was for the citizens. So I think working on a higher purpose is also very important. And then having the integrity, the way that we handle data. In the world of marketing, they always think that it's Disneyland, that it's me because I have so much data. And when I tell them that I don't have access to the data, that it's encrypted, and that even our website is cookieless, they get crazy. But the way that we handle data, our integrity, the security and the privacy was also very important to create trust. trust at the end users, but also trust at the companies who would use its.me because we will not actually be profiling everyone to see how we could play a big data player role. So, I think these are the different components and maybe, you know, sense of luck.
Well, I'll cut that out.
No, but sometimes, you know, when the stars need to be aligned and it's the right moment and it's the right place.
No, I totally agree. There's a high level of serendipity in the world and sometimes it's hard to put your finger on things, right? So, that's why—
It's watching the right trends and then knowing when you have to hop on the trend.
Well, talking a bit about trends, we're now today at DFS. What have been your findings as a last comment of this podcast, Sylvie? What did you like so far?
Oh, well, it's the whole discussion about open data that I was following. It was really nice to see that there was actually a balance between how can we make a better economy, how can we be more personal towards the end user, that you have a very personal experience, but at the same time keeping privacy. So it's always a balance that we know what it means, a very tough one to keep. But I really liked the fact that I could hear it also. And it was not only about the data sharing or data and exploiting the data. It was about handling in a very fair and for a higher purpose. So, I really like that one.
I appreciate that you bring up the purpose in life a couple of times in this discussion. So, Sylvie, I would like to thank you so much for your contribution to this podcast. It has been a pleasure for me.
Thank you for the invitation.
You're welcome. It's not only me, it's also due to our sponsor, Fintech Belgium. So, also to the listeners, thank you very much for tuning in and please stay tuned because More will come in this channel. So looking forward to hear from you. Thank you so much.
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