Bank-id (trademark ''BankID'') is by far the largest

electronic identification An electronic identification ("eID") is a digital solution for proof of identity of citizens or organizations. They can be used to view to access benefits or services provided by government authorities, banks or other companies, for mobile payments ...

system in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, with a usage rate of 94% among smartphone users, and is administered by ''Finansiell ID-Teknik BID AB'' that is owned by several Swedish and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n banks. In March 2018, Bank-id had about 6.5 million active users and was supported by 600 web services. Only individuals with a Swedish personal identity number can acquire Bank-id. Bank-id has existed in following variations: * Bank-id on file (on computer) * Bank-id on card (connected to a token device) * Mobile Bank-id ( mobile based solution) * Bank-id in mobile (a discontinued SIM card based solution) Example of usage areas are Swish payments, bank login, login to

e-government E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new ...

, and access to

medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdic ...

s via Vårdguiden 1177. There is also a separate personal electronic identification service in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

that goes by the name ''BankID'' developed and released by Norwegian banks in 2004, and while it functions similarly, it is completely independent from the Swedish BankID.

Variations

Bank-id on file

The service ''BankID'', also called ''BankID på fil'', was launched in 2003. A soft certificate and a secret encryption key is stored on the computer's hard drive, and still works even if the files are moved between computers, which might be a security risk. To use Bank-id on a personal computer it is required that ''Bank-id säkerhetsprogram (BISP)'' is installed within the system the files are stored. Criticism has been pointed out that it is an overly platform dependent solution that requires the customers to either have

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

. Early versions included support for

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

, but were phased out in 2014.

Bank-id on card

''Bank-id på kort'' (English: Bank-id on card) was launched in 2005. A secret cryptographic key is stored in the

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

's chip, that works like a hard certificate, which is regarded as more secure as it usually will require physical access to the card for it to work. The card can be a bank card or a pure bank-id card. It can be delivered with or without a photograph, and can work as a

identity document An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

. This card work in tandem with a special card reader, called ''bankdosa'' or ''säkerhetsdosa'', with a numeral keyboard to enter codes. Some banks have the chip integrated in the card reader so it work without card. Bank-id on card work without any special software in the computer or mobile, but long codes needs to be entered into the device. There is a special software to transfer codes via a USB cable.

Mobile bank-id

''Mobilt bank-id'' (English: Mobile bank-id) was launched in October 2011, and is an

for modern

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s from certain manufactures that is combined with a mobile application. It can be used as login or signing via the web on an ordinary PC, where the mobile work as a separate security device (''"säkerhetsdosa"''), and for login via bank and government mobile applications. The secret cryptographic key is stored in the mobile application (''Bank-id säkerhetsapp''), that works as a soft certificate. The e-service supplier (the business or government the user shall identify themselves towards) have a validation server. In 2014, about half of all smartphone users in Sweden used Mobile Bank-id. In five years the number of users almost doubled to 94 percent of all smartphone users.{{cite web , author1=Internetstiftelsen , authorlink1=The Internet Foundation in Sweden , title=Svenskarna och internet 2019 , url=https://svenskarnaochinternet.se/rapporter/svenskarna-och-internet-2019/banktjanster-och-handel/ , website=Svenskarna och internet , accessdate=30 October 2019 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127142100/https://svenskarnaochinternet.se/rapporter/svenskarna-och-internet-2019/banktjanster-och-handel/ , archivedate=27 November 2019 , language=Swedish , date=15 October 2019 , url-status=live In 2019 all participating banks issued Mobile Bank-id, which does not apply to the other two solutions.

References

Financial services in Sweden Software companies of Sweden Companies based in Stockholm