Announcement of Demonstration Experiment Results for the Financial Services Agency's "FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub" Supported Project

Nippon Electric Corporation (NEC) today announced the results of a demonstration experiment concerning a scheme for conducting identity verification based on the Act on Prevention of Criminal Proceeds Transfer (hereinafter, "Anti-Money Laundering Act") using digital certificates (Verifiable Credentials, hereinafter "VCs"). This experiment was conducted within the "Identity Verification Subcommittee" (established June 2024) of the DID/VC Co-creation Consortium (Decentralized Identifier / Verifiable Credential Co-creation Consortium, 50 member companies* as of the end of March 2026, hereinafter "DVCC"), hosted by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (President: Hiroshi Kubota, hereinafter "Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank"). The experiment was supported by the Financial Services Agency's (FSA) "FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub" as Project No. 9*1, and its results are now being announced.

1. Overview and Results of the Demonstration Experiment

(1) Overview of the Demonstration Experiment

This demonstration experiment aimed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of a "new identity verification method" that seeks to balance improved security with convenience by utilizing VCs, which allow users to manage and present identity verification results conducted by financial institutions on their smartphones.

Two schemes were examined in this demonstration experiment:

① Utilizing VCs containing the results of identity verification conducted by financial institutions, combined with VCs recording the results of reading the IC chip information of identity verification documents such as My Number Cards, as a method defined in Article 6, Paragraph 1, Item 1 (g) of the Enforcement Regulations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (as of March Reiwa 7) (hereinafter, the "Old Item (g) Method"). (Initial Scheme)

② Receiving and transferring x.509 certificates issued by businesses certified under Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Electronic Signature Act in VC format, to be used as a method defined in Article 6, Paragraph 1, Item 1 (w) of the Enforcement Regulations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (as of March Reiwa 8) (hereinafter, the "Item (w) Method"). (Final Scheme)

(2) Demonstration Experiment Results

This demonstration experiment indicated the potential for a "new identity verification method" that reduces the burden on the customer side during identity verification.

However, regarding the initial scheme (①), we received a response from the relevant ministries and agencies stating that it cannot be used as the Old Item (g) Method because it cannot guarantee the user's existence at the time of VC presentation.

Regarding the final scheme (②), we received a response from the relevant ministries and agencies stating that it can be used as the Item (w) Method, provided that financial institutions implement risk mitigation measures.

For details on the implementation results, please refer to the attached report:

"DID/VC Co-creation Consortium [Financial Services Agency FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub Results Report]"

https://www.tr.mufg.jp/houjin/dvcc/pdf/houkokusho.pdf

2. Future Challenges for Social Implementation of VCs

Moving forward, we will organize detailed discussion points for the realization and social dissemination of schemes and the consideration of various VC use cases beyond just identity verification. This includes clarifying the division of responsibilities among businesses, designing incentives based on business models and cost-effectiveness, and determining appropriate costs that Verifiers can bear.

3. Future Developments

DVCC will continue to collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies, private industry organizations, and others to confirm the legality and safety of new technologies, while working on considering VC use cases and realizing and socially disseminating schemes.

4. NEC's Role in the Demonstration Experiment

In this demonstration experiment, NEC provided the technology for "FaceVC," a VC utilizing biometric authentication (facial recognition) technology*2, to demonstrate a mechanism for reducing risks during Verifiable Presentation (VP) presentation. This demonstration verified the effectiveness of FaceVC by performing user authentication using FaceVC stored in a wallet at the time of VP presentation, thereby preventing measures such as rewriting biometric information stored on a device to facilitate device resale. The effectiveness of FaceVC was confirmed.

End

*1: About the Financial Services Agency's FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub

In the "Future Investment Strategy 2017" (decided by the Cabinet in June 2017), the Financial Services Agency announced its policy to take measures to facilitate demonstration experiments related to FinTech, from the perspective of accelerating challenges for innovation utilizing FinTech. Based on this, the FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub was established by the FSA to provide support to overcome hesitations and concerns that FinTech companies and financial institutions often face when attempting unprecedented demonstration experiments.

Continuous support is provided by internal FSA teams for each experiment, addressing points that FinTech companies and financial institutions wish to clarify through their experiments (such as compliance and supervisory risks, and practical issues related to legal interpretations that may arise when providing services to general users).

"Regarding the Establishment of the FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub"

https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/29/sonota/20170921/20170921.html

"Decision to Adopt Project for Reusing Transaction Verification Results Utilizing Digital Certificates for the Financial Services Agency's 'FinTech Demonstration Experiment Hub'"

https://www.tr.mufg.jp/ippan/release/pdf_mutb/241223_1.pdf

*2: Related site

NEC's DID/VC Solution | VC Utilizing Biometric Authentication Technology

https://jpn.nec.com/web3/

Appendix

Participating Companies in the Demonstration Experiment (in Japanese syllabary order, titles omitted)

The demonstration experiment was conducted primarily by DVCC member companies participating in the "Identity Verification Subcommittee" and the "Rule Development Subcommittee (Identity Verification WG)."