
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has become one of the first financial institutions to pilot test a new identity verification scheme in partnership with Services Australia.
Linked to the myGov platform and as part of the Federal Government’s Trust Exchange (TEx) initiative first announced in August 2024, the trial will allow participants to use a digital Medicare card as a form of verifiable identification.
CBA customers at select branches in Canberra will be able to scan a QR code and authorise the secure sharing of their personal information such as their name and Medicare enrolment details, but not other “sensitive” details such as their Medicare number.
The trial and wider TEx program adhere to the security standards set out in the Digital ID Act 2024, and lay the groundwork for enhanced and secure information-sharing between Australians, government and businesses.
Shortly before retiring from politics last week, former Government Services Minister Bill Shorten announced the arrangement with CBA and said the program would improve data security by removing the requirement for businesses to hold physical copies of ID documents on premises.
“It may mean in future you wouldn’t need to hand over copies of your ID documents for banks to store on their own systems, reducing the data they need to collect,” he said.
“Banks would be able to get confirmation of a person’s identity, verified by government, within seconds.”
A similar trial was conducted last year at a GP clinic in Brisbane, which offered patients the opportunity to register by sharing medical information from Medicare and other government-issued identifications through the myGov app.