Credential Issuance

Credential issuers can use MATTR VII to apply cryptographic tools to sign verifiable credentials with different types of claims. Verifiers can then confirm the content of the credential is validated by the issuer and has not been tampered with.

Credential issuance is the process of signing a credential and then making it available for a holder to claim, hold and present for verification as required. MATTR VII supports two methods for issuing a credential:

• Direct issuance: In this method you first create a credential using a direct API call, and then share it with its intended holder using your preferred communication channel.

• Protocol issuance: This method combines creating and sending a credential into a single workflow. Protocol issuance can be augmented by different integrations such as retrieving information from existing claims sources or applying business logic as part of the issuance workflow. MATTR VII currently supports two issuance protocols:

  • OpenID credential provisioning: This protocol issues credentials based on the OpenID for Verifiable Credentials Issuance (OpenID4VCI) specification.

  • Open ID Connect (OIDC) Bridge issuance: Issues credentials based on the Open ID Connect authentication protocol. The OIDC Bridge issuer is currently marked as 'Retired' as per our Service Level Agreement. It is no longer actively enhanced or supported and will be removed from the MATTR VII platform on August 19th, 2024. It is highly recommended to use the improved OpenID4VCI protocol when issuing credentials.