Why the partnership between Signicat and Rabobank works

It’s not often that a bank and a technology company join forces to corner the market. But since 2017, Signicat and Rabobank have proved to be a good match in the area of identity services. What’s the key to their success?

A growth market

The partnership between Rabobank and Signicat goes back to 2017. Back then, the identification service iDIN had just become available on the market. Rabobank’s Carol Scholte: “We at Rabobank are convinced that identification services are a growth market, so we immediately saw opportunities for the service. But we also saw one big pitfall looming ahead.”

Customers want more than just iDIN

The bank didn’t want to repeat the mistakes made in the introduction of iDEAL with the release of iDIN. iDEAL had been introduced as a universal online payment method for the Netherlands in 2005. Scholte: “But entrepreneurs also wanted to offer their customers the choice of paying with a creditard or PayPal. iDEAL also wasn’t suitable for foreign customers. So instead of signing iDEAL contracts with banks, companies chose to use Payment Service Providers (PSPs) instead, because they offered a one-stop-shop for all payment solutions. In the area of identification, we also noticed that customers need more solutions than just iDIN, like DigiD, social logins, a passport scan or digital signatures. So we’re looking for the best options for offering those services.”

Single platform with every solution

Rabobank found the answer to that question in a partnership with Signicat, a digital identity services firm that was originally from Norway. According to Scholte, they were the perfect match. “Signicat has a lot of experience offering identity services, and they wanted to expand into Europe. Rabobank has a Dutch market share of 35%, which makes us an interesting party for Signicat. The great thing about Signicat is that they offer a single platform for every identity solution. The customer can then integrate it with their own systems with a single connection. Signicat also has a dashboard and developer portal with all of the information about this API link.”

Experience with marketing and sales

Signicat is also pleased with the partnership. Product Manager Quinten Jansen: “Rabobank is a large and trusted brand, while we’re still a small player – and we were even smaller when we came to the Netherlands in 2017.

“Identity services aren’t immensely complex products, but it’s easier for us to enter the market together with a trusted brand like Rabobank.”

Wij zijn een technologiebedrijf met vooral software developers, door samen te werken met Rabobank wordt dit aangevuld door veel ervaring op het gebied van marketing en sales. Daarnaast heeft Rabobank veel zakelijke klanten die behoefte hebben aan identiteitsdiensten. We zijn dan ook erg blij met de samenwerking, die ons een hoop nieuwe klanten heeft opgeleverd.’

Big opportunities for the future

Both parties have high expectations of identity services. Scholte: “Since we as a bank have already identified our customers in accordance with strict legislation and regulations, with the customer’s approval we can use that data to help entrepreneurs. Their customers are used to fast and convenient online services, and don’t accept any hassle when they have to identify themselves, for example to rent a boat or a car. We also believe that identification will eventually play an important role as a replacement for existing payment solutions. If a customer has already been identified and the bank is willing to vouch for them, then the entrepreneur can optimize their customer processes to take advantage of that fact. Once the customer is recognized, then they won’t have to go to the go to a register to pay, for example. Payment can occur at the moment agreed upon by the customer and the bank. In short, I expect that this service will change a lot of things over the next few years. Rabobank and Signicat are ready for that today.”

See Rabo Identity Services