Comparing Organisation Identifiers - What They Are, How They Work
DID, GLN, DUNS, BIC, TIN, and LEI
Organisation identifiers are essential tools in the modern business world where B2B value is high and trading across borders and supply chain management is complex. Such organisation identifiers help streamline transactions, communication, trust, and collaboration between different parties by identifying and connecting the parties involved.
This blog post will provide an overview of six common organisation identifiers: Decentralised Identifier (DID), Global Location Number (GLN), Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), Bank Identifier Code (BIC), Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). We will also look briefly at their respective real-world use cases.
All these identifiers, except DUNS, are identified in the World Trade Organisation’s Standards Toolkit for Cross-border Paperless Trade…
The Cyber Hut Comment: Ubisecure a leader in CIAM have written a detailed article on the concept of business identifiers. With the rise of B2B interactions and relationships, complex supply chains and even concepts such as disinformation, having reliable information as it pertains to both identities and the businesses they claim to present is becoming a growing concern.
The article leads with a range of acronyms and explanations. The most capable is the LEI - the legal entity identifier. It is a 20-character alpha-numeric that represents business entities and groups structures and can be resolved to a publicly available global database.
Why is this useful? Well each legal entity can be issued with one of these codes, that is assigned only after a highly assured verification process has been completed. Think of that process as being a bit like proofing for an identity, or the EV (extended vetting) process for issuing TLS certificates.
It is looking to solve the problem of knowing to a degree of assurance “who is who” and “who owns who”. This level of assurance was driven by the financial services world and more so after the 2008 financial crash. There are over 300 regulations that require the use of an LEI which is driving the demand for the issuance and management of the process.
The LEI process of issuance and verification can provide a rich assurance canvas for entities as they complete complex B2B transactions. A secondary longer term view would be to securely tie employees of those entities to this business identifier allowing a chain of resolution to help reduce fraud and improve information assurance.