Users of iOS, Linux or any other operating system not named Windows know all too well how infuriating online banking could be in Korea. If you were lucky, the website would tell you right away that you needed to use Internet Explorer. If you were unlucky, you’d waste 15 minutes of your life running a gauntlet of screens before realizing the service was incompatible with your operating system. And even if you used a Windows box, you still had to put up with the hassle of getting a government-authorized identification and downloading third-party software such as Active X to use it – with all the privacy, sovereignty and security concerns that entailed.

Thankfully, the Korean government is scrapping its outdated system for digital ID certificates. ICON, however, is already demonstrating the future of identification management with its decentralized ID service, CHAIN ID. Leveraging distributed ledger technology and smart contracts, CHAIN ID provides users with private certificates that are safe, secure and blissfully convenient to use.

Managing your ID the decentralized way

CHAIN ID goes all the way back to October 2017, when theloop – since renamed ICONLOOP – announced the release of the blockchain-based identification service, which allows customers to use the same identification certificate across any of the 25 banks and securities companies that are members of the Korea Financial Investment Blockchain Consortium.

ICON wasn’t shy about the development, proclaiming, “Today, Korea’s online banking security got its first major update in nearly 20 years, catapulting it from tech laggard to blockchain-powered tech pioneer.” Jonghyup Kim, ICONLOOP’s CEO, boasted that CHAIN ID didn’t just replace the outdated certificates. Instead, he said it “puts blockchain into the pocket of every Korean, setting the stage for widespread use of blockchain-based transactions in a new blockchain-powered financial ecosystem.”

To be sure, CHAIN ID represents a major advancement from the previous online ID system. Since the Digital Signature Act of 1999, you’ve needed to use certificates – issued only by institutions authorized by the government – to do online financial and commercial transactions. To use these government-issued digital certificates, you’ve had to download and install Windows-only software, leading to many compatibility and security issues, especially in the mobile age. It’s also hindered the development and international competitiveness of the Korean e-commerce sector. The government finally moved to scrap the system in March.

CHAIN ID, on the other hand, is a decentralized solution to the ID dilemma, replacing the government-issued digital certificates with “immutable, verifiable and interoperable blockchain certificates.” By using distributed ledger technology to build mutual trust and smart contracts to ensure the validity of data within the network, ICONLOOP has made it possible to use private certificates instead of certificates issued by authorized institutions..

Indeed, it’s precisely in the realm of identity management that blockchain technology enjoys some of its greatest disruptive potential.

As ICON explains its system: