SK ID Solutions conducted a survey about authentication solutions across four countries. The survey results show that in Latvia and Estonia, the most trustworthy solution is considered to be the ID-card, in Lithuania, the PIN calculator and in Finland, the code card. All four countries consider security to be the most important factor in choosing an authentication solution, which is followed by ease of use in the Baltics and the trustworthiness of the service provider in Finland.

If in Estonia and Lithuania, Mobile-ID is considered to be the second most trustworthy solution and in Latvia that place goes to Smart-ID, then in Finland, the ID-card takes the second place (in Lithuania, it placed third). The TOP3 best-known authentication solutions in Estonia are the ID-card (97% of respondents know about it), Mobile-ID (65%) and Smart-ID (52%); in Latvia, the ID-card (69%), Smart-ID (42%) and the code card (35%); in Lithuania, Mobile-ID (74%), the ID-card and PIN calculator (both 43%) and in Finland, the code card (69%), Mobile-ID (65%) and the ID-card (55%).

Estonians are the pickiest about the identity of the provider of the authentication solution as a little over half of Estonians (52%) show preference towards the state as the service provider. In the other three countries, this indicator was lower – in Latvia and Lithuania, 38% and 48% accordingly and in Finland, 43%. Estonia also has the highest proportion of people for whom the identity of the service provider is not important (37%) and Lithuania has the lowest proportion of those people (29%).

Respondents from all four countries said that various factors act as obstacles in adopting an electronic authentication solution, such as difficulty of use or a limited number of places where it can be used. Respondents from Estonia saw the least number of obstacles with 54% saying that there are no obstacles. In the other countries, this number is significantly lower: 31% in Finland, 34% in Latvia and 33% in Lithuania. Difficulty of use, the limited number of places where they can be used and a low level of security are all considered equal obstacles in adopting authentication solutions. As expected, since Estonia has the biggest number of online services that require secure authentication, the limited number of places where an authentication solution could be used is less important there than in the other countries.

„The survey results show that regardless of the country, nationality, existing practices and the solutions being offered, the security and ease of use of an authentication solution are the two most important factors for people. But a lot of the time, it is not the ID-card and the PIN calculator going head to head in everyday activities, but the ID-card and Google login or Smart-ID and Facebook login The user experience of these services that don’t focus as much on security creates a comparison with our services in people’s minds and we need to be better. It’s a challenge for us and we are constantly working hard at it,“ said the CEO of SK ID Solutions, Kalev Pihl.

The residents of all the countries involved in the survey wish to use authentication solutions not only for banking and education services, but also for governmental services, giving digital signatures and participating in electronic voting. The most anticipated new technology that could be implemented in authentication solutions in the future is biometry – about a third of the people in Estonia, Finland and Latvia (35%, 33% and 31% accordingly) and 40% of the people in Lithuania are looking forward to it. According to Pihl, biometry is definitely a technology that in one form or another will be added to existing authentication solutions in the future.

The survey about the use and trustworthiness of authentication solutions was ordered by SK ID Solutions and conducted by the market research group RAIT in the Baltics and in Finland. 4000 people between the ages of 18-65 participated in the survey. An overview of the survey in English can be found here.

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