iDenfy, a global RegTech solution provider known for its identity verification and fraud prevention, has launched a new digital identity verification method called Mobile-ID.
This SIM card-based non-document onboarding workflow is now accessible to all iDenfy users, enabling hassle-free implementation through iDenfy's ID verification dashboard. The Mobile-ID targets Estonian and Lithuanian businesses, facilitating user onboarding via a SIM card credential, eliminating the need for uploading identity documents.
Standard-based solution
Mobile-ID is an electronic identification (eID) service delivered by mobile operators in Estonia and Lithuania, comprising roughly 3 million potential users, with 705,000 active participants and a 21% adoption rate.
This standard-based solution attains the eIDAS Level of Assurance High ranking, aligning it with the national identity systems endorsed across EU states. From a user standpoint, Mobile-ID facilitates access to numerous e-services and allows for document e-signatures, equating legally to handwritten signatures.
SIM-based authentication
The Mobile-ID system operates through a non-biometric two-factor authentication process
Unlike application-based eID solutions, this SIM card method introduces a unique “secure element” in the onboarding process. Prevalent for e-signing and authentication, Mobile-ID enables seamless user verification and digital signature capabilities across compliant mobile devices without additional app downloads or multiple API implementations.
The Mobile-ID system operates through a non-biometric two-factor authentication process, requiring users to input PINs linked to their SIM card credentials rather than engaging facial biometric scans. This setup eliminates the necessity for physical ID documents, offering Estonian and Lithuanian users a familiar, convenient digital verification process, especially vital for online services necessitating remote interactions.
Maintaining user experience
Domantas Ciulde, CEO of iDenfy, remarked, “We know how important a customized, native experience is. Given our history and the first HQ that we built and still have in Lithuania, we know firsthand why users like Mobile-ID and similar, country-specific onboarding options.” This approach potentially boosts conversion rates by offering a familiar process, countering traditional onboarding challenges that demand photo ID uploads, which often dissuade users.
Mobile-ID verifies the user's name and nationality as definitive attributes
Employing iDenfy's automation, Mobile-ID verifies the user's name and nationality as definitive attributes, with the date of birth as a conditional attribute based on configuration or consent. This structured approach delivers credible identity authentication from SIM credentials without relying on manual document methods beset by potential image quality issues.
iDenfy advocates for businesses in Estonia and Lithuania to incorporate the Mobile-ID workflow. If users lack Mobile-ID, alternatives such as Smart-ID, a broader authentication option or a general biometric check involving document capture, may be employed. This flexibility enhances potential conversions for companies operating in these regions.
Mobile-based authentication infrastructure
Domantas Ciulde noted, “Businesses can use iDenfy to route users to a SIM-based identity verification path automatically when document capture is unavailable or fails due to image quality or lighting conditions.” Estonia's digital government infrastructure and Lithuania's similar advancements underscore the relevance of mobile-based authentication across public and commercial domains, complementing app-based options like Smart-ID.
The introduction of Mobile-ID follows iDenfy's announcement of automated Smart-ID onboarding, an electronic identity application prevalent in Estonia and Latvia. This development positions iDenfy as a provider of both eIDAS-compliant document-based and non-document-based onboarding. By supporting Mobile-ID across its platform, iDenfy offers cost-effective implementation solutions available through its verification dashboard at no added cost.
iDenfy, a global RegTech company that provides identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, has integrated a new digital ID verification method, Mobile-ID, a SIM card-based non-document onboarding workflow.
It’s now available for all iDenfy users, with direct, no-code enablement using the ID verification dashboard. The new addition of Mobile-ID specifically targets Estonian and Lithuanian businesses that need to onboard their users through a credential embedded on the SIM card instead of asking the customer to upload their identity document during their verification journey.
Standard-based solution
Mobile-ID is a SIM-based eID provided by mobile operators in Estonia and Lithuania. It combines approximately 3 million people from the two markets, currently connecting 705,000 active users with a 21% adoption rate among the general population.
Currently, Mobile-ID is issued by a local mobile operator as a standard-based solution, which is ranked at eIDAS LoA High (Mobile-ID’s eIDAS High certification places it fully within that framework), putting it at the same level of assurance as the nationally issued national identity systems recognized across EU member states. From the end-user’s perspective, Mobile-ID allows users to access multiple e-services and sign documents, which is the legal equivalent of a traditional, handwritten signature.
National identity systems
In contrast to the eID solutions that are application-based, this SIM-card-based option is built on a unique SIM card, which is itself another “secure element” in the onboarding. Mobile-ID is widely used for e-signing and as an authentication measure.
That means, using iDenfy, businesses will be able to verify users and automate access to Mobile-ID and its use of digital signatures across any capable mobile device without the necessity of downloading any additional applications or implementing multiple separate APIs.
Physical ID documents
Authentication for Mobile-ID happens through a non-biometric two-factor process that asks the users to input their SIM-resident credential-based PINs, instead of asking for their facial biometrics on their smart devices.
End-users don’t need to carry physical ID documents and can use their Mobile-ID linked to the SIM on their phone. This innovation makes Mobile-ID an accessible way for any Estonian and Lithuanian user, who are often already familiar with this workflow and use it for accessing documents, especially when remote signing is often required due to many services being provided online without the need to communicate with the other party face-to-face.
Image quality problems
“We know how important a customized, native experience is. Given our history and the first HQ that we built and still have in Lithuania, we know first hand why users like Mobile-ID and similar, country-specific onboarding options,” commented Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.
The user sees a process that they have completed multiple times in their lifetime and is more likely to convert to other businesses’ services, without dropping off. That has been an issue for other onboarding workflows that require uploading a real photo of the user’s ID. iDenfy also mentioned that the standard KYC-compliant government-issued ID workflow won’t go anywhere, but global businesses are looking for better U/X and alternatives to match each country’s requirements.
Authenticated identity attributes
Using iDenfy’s automation solution, Mobile-ID’s system cross-matches the user’s given name, family name, and nationality as deterministic attributes. Date of birth is available as a conditional attribute depending on configuration or user consent. This structured verification output allows businesses to receive authenticated identity attributes from the SIM card credential, and doesn’t have to use manual document extraction methods with their associated image quality problems.
iDenfy suggests businesses enable the Mobile-ID workflow if they operate in Lithuania or Estonia, and then, if the user doesn’t have a Mobile-ID, they can onboard themselves via Smart-ID (which is more of a general authentication option, not e-signing, and has a wider user base), or trigger another, custom workflow, such as a general biometric check with a document capture.
Mobile-based authentication
“Businesses can use iDenfy to route users to a SIM-based identity verification path automatically when document capture is unavailable or fails due to image quality or lighting conditions,” explained Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.
Also, it is worth placing it in context that Estonia is one of the leading digital governments in the world, with a full digital ID infrastructure on which government and commercial services are built. Lithuania has been on a similar path, with mobile-based authentication widely deployed in banking and government services. Mobile-ID is part of that infrastructure alongside app-based options such as Smart-ID, together covering the range of options on how users in those countries could execute the authentication process. A business with an offering across Estonia and Lithuania, but only supporting document-based authentication, will be losing a good proportion of users who rely on SIM-based credentials.
Smart-ID onboarding workflow
The news of Mobile-ID adoption came shortly after iDenfy announced that it offers automated access to the Smart-ID onboarding workflow, another mobile electronic identity (eID) application used in Estonia and Latvia.
This makes iDenfy one of the few KYC providers that offer eIDAS-compliant, EU-adopted workflows for both document-based and non-document-based onboarding in the market. For business, this saves costs, especially on implementation. Mobile-ID support is available across iDenfy’s identity verification platform and is available via the dashboard to all clients at no additional cost.
