In “Less friction, more trust: the power of digital identity”, two speakers looked at the same problem from different angles. Roderick Arts, Country Manager Netherlands at itsme, brought the numbers from our new NielsenIQ research. Jimmy Dirksen, Business Development Manager Digital Identity at Rabobank, added the view from the practice.
Almost every Dutch household is already insured. Non-life premiums add up to 7.3% of Dutch GDP, well above the EU average (OECD, 2025). Growth therefore means winning customers from a competitor or at least keeping your own. As Roderick put it: “When products and prices are practically identical, the digital customer experience becomes one of the few remaining differentiators left to stand out.” And every digital moment starts the same way: customers have to prove who they are.
In April 2026, itsme asked NielsenIQ to survey 4,000 consumers in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch insurance customers rate secure identity checks 82 out of 100 in importance. The methods their insurers use score 56 on the Identity Maturity Model. That’s a 26-point gap, and it’s widest at the very start of the relationship: verifying a new customer (59 vs. 82) and signing a contract (35 vs. 80).
The order of events makes it worse. At most Dutch non-life insurers, the ID check only comes after the contract is signed, when the marketing, the comparison site and the commission have already been paid for.
Many insurers still treat identity verification as a box for compliance to tick. Jimmy sees it differently: “Digital identity is primarily a commercial opportunity rather than merely a compliance challenge.”
The real work, he explained, happens inside the organization: “It always comes down to finding a balance between user experience on one side and risk management on the other. Marketing wants a smooth user experience, while compliance wants every risk covered. Bringing both departments together is essential to building a process that works.”
Customers have made up their minds: 63% of Dutch people with a non-life or travel policy think an external ID app should be the standard way to confirm a new customer’s identity. And the EU’s new Anti-Money Laundering rules, which apply from 10 July 2027, will explicitly recognize electronic identity as a legitimate onboarding channel.
Dutch health insurers, which are legally required to offer DigiD, score a tight 66 to 68 on maturity. Non-life insurers can’t use DigiD, and score anywhere between 33 and 63. So the first non-life insurer to offer a strong, shared alternative stands out, protects its acquisition spend and gets ready for the rules to come.
It starts with a change of mindset. Instead of asking “what might I lose if I change my current process?”, insurers should ask, “what do I stand to gain over my competitors by offering a far smoother digital experience?”