Norway-based Signicat has integrated Italy’s digital identity system, “Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale” (or “SPID”), into its platform, allowing European companies and agencies to leverage SPID for efficient customer authentication and onboarding.
Launched in 2016, SPID is meant to give Italians access to various online services using a single set of credentials; Signicat says it’s now used by 35 million people in the country. The program is somewhat similar to the regulatory framework for digital ID that has emerged in the United Kingdom in recent years: a government agency, the AgID (for “Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale”) has the authority to certify certain services providers (“gestori dell’identità digitale”) to create and manage the digital identities of end users. With the help of these identity providers, service providers in the private or public sector can enable access to their online services through the SPID.
SPID is also eIDAS compliant, suggesting it may be adopted by more identity services providers in the EU in the future. For now, though, Signicat CEO Asger Hattel says his firm is “proud to be the first, and currently only, company outside Italy to offer digital identity verification through SPID.”
In announcing the integration, Signicat noted that it means Italian citizens living in other European countries can use SPID – via Signicat – to do things like open bank accounts, sign mortgages, and rent cars. “This development effectively bridges the gap between citizens and businesses across Europe, fostering enhanced levels of interaction and engagement,” the company asserted.
The integration offers the latest sign of Signicat’s growing role as a provider of identity verification services across the European region. The company offers a range of solutions including automated, selfie-based biometric identity verification and electronic document signing, as well as a Digital Identity Platform supporting more than 30 digital IDs, in line with the European Commission’s European Digital Wallet project. More to the point, Signicat is one of the technology partners participating in one of the large-scale EU Digital Wallet pilot programs, the “Nordic-Baltic eID Project” or “NOBID”.
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September 5, 2023 – by Alex Perala
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