![\"Over](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/015-Id-Fraud-2.webp\")
\t\tFraud now accounts for roughly 40 per cent of recorded crime in England \t<\/p>\n\t\t\tFriday 08 May 2026 12:01 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThursday 07 May 2026 3:42 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tFraud now accounts for roughly 40 per cent of recorded crime in England \t<\/p>\n
The City of London Corporation is calling on tech firms to help build a new digital identity verification network, designed to crack down on fraud and reduce the growing costs of financial scams.<\/p>\n
Under the plans, shared with City AM, consumers would verify their identity once with a trusted provider before reusing those credentials across banks and financial services firms, cutting duplication, speeding up onboarding, and making it harder for bad actors to exploit gaps between institutions.<\/p>\n
The City Corporation said the proposed system could unlock almost \u00a35bn in economic benefits over five years by reducing fraud losses and improving digital infrastructure efficiency.<\/p>\n
The move comes as banks and regulators intensify pressure on tech platforms over the explosion of online scams fuelled by AI-generated adverts and deepfakes.<\/p>\n
Fraud now accounts for roughly 40 per cent of recorded crime in England and Wales, according to government figures, with most cases now cyber-enabled.<\/p>\n
The new digital ID system would act as a coordination layer between identity providers and financial institutions, allowing companies to verify identities without repeatedly collecting the same documents from their customers.<\/p>\n
Chris Hayward, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said fraud was costing banks more than \u00a31bn annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cInnovation enables new dangers \u2013 but it also solves them too\u201d, he said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking companies who can provide this infrastructure to step forward and lead the sector\u2019s fightback against fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City is now seeking input from tech firms capable of building and operating the infrastructure, with submissions open until mid-May.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n