Kazakhstan launching national system for remote biometric authentication

Kazakhstan is establishing a national system for remote biometric authentication, which will serve as a single base for biometric data for all industries – from banking to public services,

The national system will be built by a joint venture between the country’s e-government infrastructure operator National Information Technologies JSC, known as Nitec, and Kazakhstani digital ID startup BTS Digital.

“This new entity will be formed by the end of the year and will be supervised by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry,” Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov announced this week.

Citizens will still have the option to use other authentication methods such as one-time passwords (OTPs), digital signatures and email logins. Since August, however, banks and other financial organizations must use biometric authentication while issuing online loans in Kazakhstan, according to media outlet Kursiv.

Over the past years, the Central Asian country has emerged as a digital leader on the international stage and a supporter of the GovStack program. Its digital identity project eGov Mobile application offers access to public services and contains 33 documents, including the national ID card, driving license, vaccination certificate and more.

From this week, Kazakhstani citizens also have the option to access the digital version of their identity cards from their Samsung Wallets. Users will need to place ID cards from the eGov app into Samsung’s app.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  BTS Digital  |  digital identity  |  Kazakhstan  |  national ID  |  remote authentication