Quantum-Resistant Security Protocol for Digital Identity Verification Using KYC-as-a-Service in 6G-Enabled Banking Applications

Abstract

Digital identity verification is a critical security requirement in modern banking systems, where Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures are mandated to mitigate fraud and ensure regulatory compliance. Existing KYC solutions, such as blockchain-based and decentralized identity frameworks, are not suitable for long-term deployment in emerging 6G-enabled banking environments because they primarily rely on classical cryptographic primitives and architectural abstractions, which make them vulnerable to quantum attacks. Additionally, repeating KYC verification across institutions increases the vulnerability of sensitive customer data and creates operational inefficiencies. In this work, we present a KYC-as-a-Service-based quantum-resistant security protocol for digital identity verification, specifically designed for 6G-enabled financial applications. While a distributed ledger is only used as a verifiable trust anchor for managing KYC credentials and revocation status, the protocol uses encryption and post-quantum digital signatures to guarantee long-term security. The proposed method minimizes sensitive data exposure, which enables interoperable KYC reuse across many institutions, and is still practical for large-scale and low-latency banking systems. The proposed protocol supports scalable, privacy-preserving, and real-time identity verification across banking institutions and third-party KYC service providers.