Digital Identity: Global Roundup

Norway / Netherlands

Signicat has today announced its acquisition of Inverid, a Dutch provider of NFC-based digital identity verification solutions, for an undisclosed sum from majority shareholder Main Capital and the founders.

The acquisition strengthens Signicat’s offering with Inverid’s flagship solution, ReadID. Signicat said the two companies “have immediate synergies at both technological and commercial levels, as well as a strong cultural fit.”

Inverid’s client list spans both public and private sectors, including governments, financial institutions, and border control authorities. In the past three years, with the backing of Main Capital, the firm has made substantial investments in both R&D – mmarked by the opening of a dedicated hub in Valencia – and in strengthening its go-to-market capabilities. As a result, the company has secured key industry tenders, tripled its revenue, and increased profitability fourfold.

Signicat has also expanded its European footprint over the last years through large organic investments in development of new products, but also through eight strategic bolt-on acquisitions.

Greece

The Secretary General for Information Systems and Digital Governance, Dimosthenis Anagnostopoulos, has called on citizens in Greece to secure their Personal ID Number ahead of its automatic issuance in September. Anagnostopoulos said that it takes just two minutes and helps resolve registry discrepancies in citizens’ personal data.

“We’re correcting existing errors in personal records so that people can be served more easily,” he said. Already, 530,000 citizens have obtained their Personal ID Number, while 66,000 new ID cards include the number integrated automatically.

United Kingdom

All identity and credential documents currently issued across central government will be offered in digital form within two years, according to the minister for the future digital economy and online safety, Baroness Maggie Jones.

Government has previously indicated that credentials to be digitised will likely include National Insurance numbers, benefits details and, eventually, an electronic version of the UK passport, reports Public Technology.

Baroness Jones indicated that all such credentials provided to citizens by departments will be digitised within the next two years.

“Central government credentials are expected to be available by 2027. The GOV.UK Wallet is not, however, creating new identity documents,” she said, in response to a written parliamentary question from unaffiliated peer Lord Peter Truscott.

Nigeria

The Nigerian government has partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute aid to more than 750,000 Nigerians displaced by natural disasters and insecurity. It combines food vouchers with a biometrics-powered digital wallet that guarantees that only the intended recipients can access the aid. Additionally, it aims to curtail duplication and guarantee that aid is delivered directly to those who need it most.

With the funds delivered to their digital wallets, the recipients can choose when and how to use them, preserving their dignity, said Minister Nentawe G. Yilwatda.

The Southern African nation of Botswana has also integrated a similar biometric data-based system that it used in May to distribute aid to over 75,000 citizens.

Somalia

Somalia has launched a new biometric border control system.

The system, known as the Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES), was developed by the US State Department three decades ago and initially screened travellers against shared watchlists. It uses facial recognition, fingerprint readers, and other scanning software to identify targets. It’s currently being used by two dozen countries.

The US government has been widely involved in the rollout, including by training Somalian officials on using the new system.

Earlier this year, the FBI revealed that it was involved in operating and maintaining the Somalia Automated Biometric Identification System, a counterterrorism and e-governance system, as per Coingeek.

China

China is set to launch a national digital identity credential known as the Cyberspace ID. The new system, governed by the Administrative Measures for the National Network Identity Authentication Public Service, will provide internet users with an official single sign-on mechanism connected to their real identities and biometric data.

The Cyberspace ID, sometimes referred to as a Network Identity, links a person’s national identification number and a live facial scan to an anonymized digital certificate. Individuals who enrol can log into a range of public and private online services using a unified digital profile. Officials from the Ministry of Public Security have said the system is intended to reduce data leaks, simplify logins, and help combat online fraud. However, it does not replace China’s existing real-name registration requirements, which have been in place for SIM cards and most major online platforms since 2017.

The programme is, reportedly, not compulsory for the country’s internet users. The government has stated that citizens who do not wish to adopt the new digital credential must still be able to access online services through other real-name verification channels, says ID Tech Wire.

Vietnam

Foreigners in Vietnam can now access national digital IDs, allowing them access to a range of government-backed and private services.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has announced a 50-day campaign to accelerate the usage and onboard a large number of foreigners to the digital ID platform.

The campaign kicked off on July 1 and will run until August 19, with the ministry unveiling benefits for users, including completing a range of administrative tasks without the requirement of presenting physical documents for verification.

The digital IDs will also allow foreigners to access financial services from local banks, providing access to rental registrations and other public services.

St. Kitts and Nevis

The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, has said government still plan to issue more than 25,000 digital ID cards to citizens and residents in 2026.

The PM said all technical equipment needed for the ID system had passed factory acceptance testing in Taiwan and will arrive in St. Kitts and Nevis by October with installation expected to begin immediately after that.

The digital ID system is being developed in collaboration with Cybernetica, which Drew described as “the Estonian firm behind the world’s most advanced digital government.” Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is also a supporter of the project, and Idemia will provide its technology for the ID card chips.

United Kingdom / Brazil

Brazilian state-owned company Serpro has signed a contract with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to provide two data validation solutions: the CPF Query and CNPJ Query APIs.

In Brazil, the CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas) is the individual taxpayer identification number, used to uniquely identify citizens and residents for tax and legal purposes. The CNPJ (Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica) serves a similar role for legal entities, functioning as the national business registration number. Both identifiers are essential for conducting financial transactions, opening bank accounts, signing contracts, and ensuring compliance with regulatory and tax obligations in the country.

LSEG will use the Brazilian APIs to enhance its identity verification systems. The data, sourced directly from Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service, will feed into LSEG’s Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes.

Giovani Pereira, business analyst for the International Market at Serpro, explained how the integration works: “When a Brazilian user opens a digital account with a brokerage that uses LSEG’s verification services, the system requests their CPF number. Through integration with Serpro’s API, LSEG can verify in real time whether the CPF is active and in good standing, and if the provided information—such as full name and date of birth – matches the official records held by the Federal Revenue.”

United Kingdom

Credas Technologies said it is to launch the country’s first compliance wallet – a reusable compliance solution designed to “reduce friction in the homebuying process, eliminate repeat compliance checks, and combat rising fraud risks across regulated sectors.”

The wallet will initially launch in the property market, where repeat checks are a persistent challenge. Each compliance wallet carries not just a verified identity but a complete compliance profile – including PEPs and sanctions screening, AML checks, digital address verification and ongoing monitoring – enabling faster, trusted onboarding with minimal friction.

It will integrate with the new UK digital driving licence and the GOV.UK Wallet, enabling “seamless portability of verified credentials across both public and private sector services.”