Verifiable credentials are transforming how organizations verify, share, and manage data in new and powerful ways. Discover the top industries where verifiable credentials are reshaping digital interactions and unlocking new possibilities for individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide.
By: Ken Ebert
In the rapidly evolving digital identity landscape, Verifiable Credentials (VCs) are becoming more than just an emerging technology — they are establishing themselves as essential tools for secure, privacy-respecting identity verification. Organizations around the world are deploying this technology to simplify processes, enhance security, and give users control over their data.
This blog looks at five of the top use cases for Verifiable Credentials that we see for 2025, providing insight into how this technology is driving efficiency, transparency, and trust. Each example highlights how industries are using VCs to meet the increasing demand for secure, interoperable, and user-centric identity solutions. From improving how we manage biometric data to enabling seamless travel and streamlining compliance in finance, VCs are proving their versatility and value.
International Travel
Using digital identities for domestic proof of identity and travel has already seen some adoption, see our recent article on Mobile Driver’s Licenses. But the next step is being able to travel internationally faster and more conveniently. Michael Zureik of SITA recently presented the findings of a proof of concept for flying internationally using a Digital Travel Credential (DTC) and the IATA One ID in collaboration with Indicio, the Government of Aruba, and Delta Airlines. Aruba plans to have their solution operational to all travelers to the island in 2025, but keep an eye out for a quick adoption by other countries and airports.
Biometric Authentication
Biometric authentication solves the problem of passwords and logins for many organizations and users; unfortunately, it still relies on the underlying problem that passwords face: reliance on a centralized database. The solution to removing this reliance on a database is what we call “Bring Your Own Biometrics.” Once a biometric is authenticated, it is issued as a Verifiable Credential. When a person presents for a liveness check, they also present their biometric VC and the relying party compares the liveness check with the biometric in the VC. This solution keeps all of the benefits of biometric authentication, while removing the risk of data breach and reducing liability for the organization. Indicio Deputy CTO Sam Curren recently held an in-depth discussion on this topic with real world examples and implementations if you would like to learn more. As data breaches continue to rise and more systems switch to biometric authentication to combat fraud, we see this use case for eliminating databases for sensitive personal information being critical.
Education
Schools of all levels are currently generating a mountain of paperwork per student per year. They need records of each student’s grades, transcripts, awards won, participation in sports or activities, and the list goes on. The current process to verify a student’s accomplishments requires the student to go back to the school and get the documents, and present them to the verifying party, either an employer or a higher education institution, and then for that part to also check in with the school to ensure they are authentic, resulting in a time consuming, manual process. The use of Verifiable Credentials and Open badges 3.0 will allow everyone to skip the wait and be able to immediately verify the student’s accomplishments without the need to check in with the school or a third party system. Students and faculty would also be able to use Verifiable Credentials for identity and access management, allowing users to access their accounts and documents in a faster, more secure, passwordless way. Indicio is already working on implementing this solution for the United School Administrators of Kansas, but this issue applies to everyone in education, and we see the entire industry being quick to adopt once they see the time and cost savings to be had.
Agriculture
Farmers have a lot of data to share. From organic growing practices to emissions data or water usage, they have a lot to keep track of and share with a variety of stakeholders, including regulators, governments, suppliers, and consumers. Historically they have relied on third-party identity providers and centralized databases, which have proven complex to integrate and slow to operate, and can share the farmer’s data without their knowledge or permission. With a decentralized identity approach their information can be shared directly, and can also create a more transparent supply chain and prove provenance. Recently, the Trust Alliance New Zealand in partnership with Indicio and Anonyme Labs has showed that all of this information can be securely held locally in a digital wallet and shared in a decentralized way, offering a faster, simpler approach to data management that saves time and money for everyone that relies on farming data. This solution won the Constellation Research 2024 SuperNova Award for “Digital Safety, Governance, Privacy, and Cybersecurity.” Agriculture and farming is a data intensive activity and we see growing interest and applications for digital farm wallets in 2025.
Finance
No one is targeted more by fraudsters than financial institutions. In fact, it’s likely that your bank receives thousands of deepfake scam phone calls per year trying to gain access to customer accounts. Decentralized identity can stop this problem at its source by providing mutual authentication through DIDComm to both banks and the customers they service before every interaction or transaction, removing the ability for any party to be impersonated. Historically banks have had to identify customers through passwords and MFA, while customers had no way to truly identify their bank without extra due diligence on their part. Fraud prevention and faster customer interactions will be a driving force for finance being a big adopter of Verifiable Credentials and decentralized identity in 2025.
Do you see a use case you’d like to discuss further? Curious how Verifiable Credentials can help your organization? Get in touch with our team of technical experts or learn more about Indicio’s complete solution Indicio Proven.
