Starting from today, Smart-ID can be applied for in bank branches. Earlier, Smart-ID could only be applied for electronically by using an ID-card or Mobile-ID, but now, in Estonia, the first bank branches have also started issuing Smart-ID.

As of today, Smart-ID is available in Swedbank’s Estonian branches, but in the near future, both Swedbank’s Latvian and Lithuanian branches and SEB Bank’s Baltic branches will also start issuing Smart-ID.

To apply for Smart-ID, the client has to visit their local bank branch where a bank employee will verify the client’s identity and will guide them through the creation of their Smart-ID account. When applying for Smart-ID at a bank branch, the client must open the Smart-ID app in their smart device, choose the option of authenticating their identity via their bank, and create PIN1 and PIN2 codes in the app. The device will then display a registration code that the bank employee will add to the Smart-ID application along with the client’s personal data. After the printed application is signed, two bank employees will authenticate the client’s identity based on their identity document. The rest of the steps (confirming the identity and the PIN codes) will be carried out in the client’s device.

According to Liisa Lukin, the Business Development Manager of Value Added Services at SK ID Solutions, applying for Smart-ID in bank branches is mainly aimed at those who for some reason are unable to use electronic authentication methods. “Applying for Smart-ID in bank branches requires a specific technical capability which has now been added to Smart-ID’s new development stage. This is important because even though both the ID-card and the Mobile-ID are very popular in Estonia, there are still those who do not use these solutions. In Latvia and Lithuania however, electronic use of the ID-card is not widespread at all and so, except for using a bank link, getting authenticated at a bank branch is the only way for a lot of people to apply for Smart-ID. For these reasons, it is very good that bank branches have now also started issuing Smart-ID,” said Lukin.

In addition to Swedbank’s Estonian branches, SEB Bank’s Baltic branches will also start issuing Smart-ID soon.

The innovative and convenient Smart-ID works on a simple principle: the user downloads the Smart-ID app from Google Play or App Store to his smart device and identifies himself electronically by using his Mobile-ID or ID-card or by visiting his local bank branch. As with the ID-card and the Mobile-ID, Smart-ID also requires the use of PIN1 and PIN2 codes which the user will create within the same app.

Smart-ID enables the use of various finance, education, telecommunications, energy and retail sector e-services. Using Smart-ID is free of charge. More information can be found at: smart-id.com.

SK ID Solutions specializes in international e-identity solutions. We are the partner of the Estonian state in issuing certificates for national identity documents. We enable the citizens of different countries to log in to e-services and give digital signatures. SK ID Solutions caters to more than 600 organizations, which include financial, healthcare, and various other private and public sector e-services. Our services have more than a million end users in the Baltics.

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