Japan’s Digital Agency has confirmed that Android support for My Number Card in a Wallet app environment is planned for autumn 2026, when the existing e-Identity service on Android will be updated to a full My Number Card on Android experience, matching functionality already available on iPhone since June 2025.
The confirmation appeared in a FAQ document released by the Digital Agency on March 31, 2026, covering private-sector implementation of the Japanese Public Key Infrastructure using My Number Card. The agency amplified the Android timeline through its official English-language social media on April 8, 2026. “Around Fall 2026, ‘e-Identity service on Android’ is planned to be updated to ‘My Number Card on Android’. Along with existing features, users will be able to securely complete identity and age verification on Android devices via Wallet App,” the agency stated.
The iOS implementation, which launched June 24, 2025 and made Japan’s My Number Card the first national digital ID in Apple Wallet outside the United States, stores My Number Card functions in Apple Wallet on devices running iOS 18.5 or later on iPhone XS and newer hardware. Biometric authentication – Face ID or Touch ID – replaces PIN entry for identity and age verification transactions. Current iOS-based use cases include the Mynaportal government services portal, certificate retrieval at convenience stores, health insurance card verification at medical institutions, and e-Tax filing. The Android update is also expected to enable tax returns filed entirely on smartphone.
My Number Card is Japan’s national digital identity card, issued to all residents, and contains an IC chip holding JPKI certificates. The private-sector JPKI access framework, which allows companies to use My Number Card for identity and age verification in their applications, was opened in 2025 with Toshiba named as the first authorized implementer. Japan’s private-sector My Number Card IC chip program has since expanded, with the Digital Agency publishing a list of case studies and implementers. Recent deployments include private-sector JPKI deployments in Japan such as LIQUID’s integration for Japan Post lockers and the Machi Pay application, announced in March 2026.
The autumn 2026 Android launch would complete Japan’s coverage of both major mobile wallet platforms for national digital identity. The iOS implementation design, which processes biometric authentication locally on-device through Face ID and Touch ID rather than centrally, represents a privacy-preserving architecture that other governments considering similar deployments have observed closely.
Sources: Japan Digital Agency FAQ (PDF), Japan Digital Agency smartphone certification page
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
