Digital identity in Slovakia is moving from plastic cards to the mobile phone. The Ministry of the Interior wants it to be secure, trustworthy, and legally indisputable – and therefore usable for both the state and the private sector. The first numbers indicate growth: e-documents have roughly 164,000 downloads and over 60,000 active users, Identita around 185,000 downloads, and mobile ID about 190,000 sign-ins.
Why e-identity and who manages it
The state does not see it merely as a project, but as a paradigm shift: an electronic equivalent is being added to physical identity. Since the Ministry of the Interior issues birth certificates, ID cards, passports, and other documents, it is natural that it also guarantees their digital copy in the eIdentita application. The goal is a universal and indisputable tool for identity verification that offices and companies will accept. Banks, insurers, operators, Slovenská pošta, the financial administration, railways, as well as hotels and food service establishments have already expressed interest.
How verification will work in practice
Use is gradually being simplified: instead of "showing the screen", full-fledged electronic verification against the Ministry of the Interior’s databases is to be introduced. A free web interface is being created for third parties that will require only basic hardware, such as a phone, tablet, or QR code reader, and will be linked to mobile ID. Field experience shows that pilots at post offices and with police officers reveal details to be fine-tuned, but each release brings improvements. When integrating into commercial systems, machine–machine data exchange is envisaged, which will speed up service and reduce errors compared with manual retyping.
More documents, BOK, and coexistence of apps
Dozens of documents are to be gradually added to the "digital wallet" – from the ID card through the driver’s license to rarely used papers such as a birth or marriage certificate. The advantage is that even rarely needed documents will be instantly at hand and ready for secure sharing. For comparison: Estonia benefits from a many-year head start and support from banks and operators, but the Slovak mobile eID already brings modern sign-in via biometrics and passkey technology.
The most common obstacle is the BOK code: if you can’t find it or need a reset, the call center and client centers can help, and soon also Slovenská pošta or branches of Sociálna poisťovňa; a convenient at-home solution is also being considered. By the way, BOK has been mandatory since 2016 and in principle corresponds to a standard PIN. The Slovensko v mobile application is not being shut down for now – under the EIDAS 2.0 rules there must remain room for alternative approaches – but ministries are gradually adding sign-in via eIdentita, with Sociálna poisťovňa next in the upcoming release of its app.
