Japan Merges Its Identity Portal and Authentication Apps Into One

Japan’s Digital Agency has launched the Myna App, absorbing the separate Digital Authentication App into the existing Mynaportal App so that identity checks and signing with the My Number Card run through a single application.

The app handles identity verification using the My Number Card and the process of adding the card’s functions to a smartphone. It reaches users as a rename rather than a new listing: anyone who already has the Mynaportal App gets the Myna App by updating it, with no second download, while people using the Digital Authentication App are redirected to Myna App when they authenticate, sign or open the app. First-time use requires registration with the physical card.

The Digital Authentication App’s mechanism has been spreading into services beyond government, which until now meant switching between applications depending on which service was asking. The agency’s stated aim is that one app handles My Number Card identity verification across the range of services a person uses.

Biometrics come in as a precondition. A device lock must be set on the phone, using a PIN, face recognition or fingerprint recognition, and the Myna App cannot be used at all if none is configured. The agency framed the condition as preventing unauthorised use by third parties, putting the handset’s own biometric sensor in front of the national identity credential.

The agency signalled the merger in January, when it said the two apps would be combined around the summer, and fixed the launch date in a notice at the end of July. It cautioned then that the date could still move if final testing turned up anything needing further checks. For a limited period after release the app icon carries the agency’s Myna-chan mascot in its lower left corner.

Japan has been extending the credential across handset platforms and hardware. The country set an autumn 2026 target for an Android My Number Card wallet, and manufacturers have started designing around the credential, with Sharp adding privacy masking for My Number Card photos on its AQUOS R11.

Sources: Digital Agency

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team