Signicat Integrates New German IDs into Digital Identity Platform

Signicat has become the first company outside of Germany to offer support for the country’s new Neue Personalausweis (nPA) digital identity card. The nPA cards were first introduced in 2017, and will have been issued to 37 million Germans by the end of 2020. That number is expected to climb to 80 million by 2027, a number that represents 95 percent of the German population.

As a certified Identification Service Provider, Signicat will enable mobile onboarding for nPA cardholders. Clients will be able to use the company’s Digital Identity Hub to scan their nPA card with a smartphone or another NFC device. The information on that card will in turn serve as proof of identity for people signing up for new accounts with financial institutions, healthcare providers, and other organizations in heavily regulated industries.

The only other certified Identification Service Provider is Bundesdruckerei, which is a German manufacturer of banknotes, passports, and identity cards. Each nPA is linked to a corresponding electronic identity, and those eIDs and Signicat’s Digital Identity Platform both meet Europe’s strict eIDAS requirements.

“As one of only a few companies authorized to read nPA identity data, we can provide our customers with digital onboarding solutions that combine convenience and security,” said Signicat CEO Asger Hattel. “This certification not only means that we can serve customers in Germany, but our existing customers now have a partner to help them expand into Germany.”

The news should continue to advance Signicat’s expansion efforts on the European continent. The Norwegian company recently acquired the Dutch digital identity specialist Connectis, and partnered with Twikey to enable recurring payments in Belgium and the Netherlands. In October, Signicat also rebuilt its API to make it easier to integrate new forms of identity verification (like the nPA) into its Digital Identity Platform.

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May 13, 2020 – by Eric Weiss