iDenfy, a global RegTech company specializing in identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, has added Handy-Signatur to its electronic identity verification (eID) platform. This new addition brings Austria’s established mobile digital identity and e-signature system into iDenfy’s non-document verification workflow list, allowing more businesses to verify Austrian users through native, user-friendly credentials they already use to access online services without requesting a physical document at the initial point of user onboarding.

Austria has a market reach of approximately 9,2 million people, and Handy-Signatur currently serves more than 4 million active users already. Austrian government services, banking platforms, and private sector applications use Handy-Signatur as one of the most established mobile identity credentials in the German-speaking region. iDenfy’s system links users to a mobile authentication flow in which they confirm their identity by using a passcode or a mobile SMS one-time password (OTP). Afterwards, with the qualified-signature-backed identity data, users request their service. For a significant portion of Austrian users, this is the main authentication method they associate with secure online transactions. It is familiar, trusted, and already embedded in how they interact with public and private services digitally.

Handy-Signatur is issued by the Austrian government and built on the OIDC standard. For each successful authentication, it also returns a deterministic attribute set of given name and family name information, most importantly, not derived from document photos. Because the credential is government-issued, it falls within the legal framework under which Austria’s overall electronic identity infrastructure has been developed. It is important to note that Austria’s Handy-Signatur certificates are valid for a maximum of 5 years. If Handy-Signatur is not renewed in time, digital services may no longer be available. Renewal is only possible before expiration. If the certificate has already expired, users must reapply in person at a registration authority. 

Austria is one of the EU member states with the longest track record in electronic identity deployment, having introduced mobile-based authentication for government services in 2011, well ahead of most European markets. The platform has accumulated its user base across years of active use in tax filing, public administration, and regulated private sector onboarding. 

The eIDAS 2.0 framework (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183) asks for the availability of at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet in all 27 countries by 31 December 2026 and mandates banks, payment institutions, and issuers of electronic money to accept the digital identity credentials as a valid authentication mechanism under SCA. Handy-Signatur, which is an identity managed by the state and backed by a qualified signature, falls within the above-mentioned framework. 

“Handy-Signatur is the credential that carried that infrastructure for more than a decade, and more than 4 million Austrians still use it today. Our clients who serve that market now have a direct path to verify those users through the credentials they already trust, without asking them to switch to other methods or provide a document they may not have on hand,” said Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.

iDenfy’s users can configure this new workflow without extra coding or settings changes using its platform. This enables to route users to an electronic ID verification workflow, whether it could be via Handy-Signatur or many other global non-document verification methods that iDenfy’s system supports, all automatically when document capture is unavailable or fails due to image quality or lighting conditions, a scenario that iDenfy’s internal algorithms identify as a recurring source of session drop-off. This approach to a combined flow (both document-based and non-doc digital ID) is available to all iDenfy clients at no additional cost and can be activated through dashboard settings without new integration work.

iDenfy’s platform currently covers over 16,000+ government-issued documents across over 200+ countries and territories. Cases that look suspicious are immediately flagged and reviewed by iDenfy’s internal compliance team, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no interruptions for weekends or public holidays to maintain the best customer experience,

“Handy-Signatur carries qualified-signature-backed identity data, which means that the successful verifications are tied to a government-issued credential, not to a user-entered form or a photography-based surface. For our clients, that distinction translates directly into verification quality for the Austrian market,” added Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.