BankID: what it is and how it works

Last week there were news that bank customers will be able to open bank accounts remotely thanks to the BankID system of the NBU. Many sites interpreted the NBU press release in their own way, often confusing the two existing BankID systems in Ukraine. Editorial staff of AIN.UA figured out what is what.

What is BankID created for?

The main purpose of creating BankID in Ukraine is to provide reliable and convenient user identification for the provision of administrative and banking services via the Internet on special portals. We have already reviewed which electronic services are available in Ukraine, and on which portals.

BankID solves the problem of user identification via the Internet: in order to provide, for example, a certificate of payroll, the service first needs to make sure that exactly the specific person is requesting information. If a citizen chooses identification via BankID, he/she enters the login and password of his/her Internet banking, passes the second stage of authorization (for example, entering a one-time password from SMS) and thus confirms his/her identity.

How does BankID login work?

Login with BankID is very similar to the popular “Login with Facebook” or “Login with Google” button on registration pages and works based on the OAuth 2.0 protocol:

Below is a real example of what it looks like when entering a portal or when ordering a service, it can be a button or a banner:

To order a certificate, enter the data in the registry, etc., two conditions are sufficient:

  1. To be a client of a bank connected to the BankID system;
  2. The portal must be connected to the same BankID system.

We will explain the second point in more detail: in Ukraine, two BankID systems operate in parallel, one is built on the basis of Oschadbank, the second one is PrivatBank. And although the administrative services portals can support both systems simultaneously, Dmitry Dubilet previously explained the situation with two different systems.

What services and banks are connected to each of the BankID systems?

At the moment, only two organizations are connected to the NBU system on the basis of Oschadbank: Oschadbank itself, and Radabank. A number of other banks are at different stages of preparation, testing and connection to the system now.

More banks are connected to the system built on the basis of PrivatBank, among them: PrivatBank, A-Bank, Pivdennyi Bank, and Concord Bank, FUIB Bank (PUMB) is also indicated, however, when it is selected, an unavailability message is displayed. “Wait, FUIB will connect to the BankID system soon.”

In addition to banks, the following are connected to the PrivatBank system:

  • online lending services: UltraCash, Global Credit, POZYCHAIko, CreditUP, СreditPlus, KF.UA and others;
  • hosting and Internet providers: Hosting Ukraine;
  • online business: FreelanceHunt, Bezplatka and RIA.com.

Also, you can pass identification using an Android-smartphone through the “PrivatBank” system. If you have an ID-card (plastic passport), your smartphone must have an NFC-chip, if you have a digital signature (EDS), then it’s not necessary.

Next, we consider a system on the basis of which in October the NBU allowed banks to open accounts for individuals through the BankID system, and which is the main one when it comes to interaction with government agencies – a system based on Oschadbank.

The list of services that support the use of the BankID service from the NBU:

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Unified State Portal of Administrative Services, Government Services Portal, Electronic Petitions to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Unified System of City Petitions, Online System “Public Budget”, State Agency for E-Government of Ukraine, Public Project “Budget of Urban Initiatives”, State Geocadastre of Ukraine, Public Initiative Platform “My Voice”, as well as Lviv City Council, Kharkiv Electronic Services Portal and Kyiv Electronic Services Portal.

The logic of the system is based on the organization of online requests from service portals to the banking system of a particular bank through a single gateway, which is the central hub of the BankID system of the NBU, and address data transfer in a signed and encrypted form. All requests go exclusively through the central node BankID of the NBU and only at the click of a button by the client.

The data that the bank can transmit to the portal is as follows:

  • Full Name;
  • Date of Birth;
  • series and passport number;
  • identification number (TIN);
  • scan copies of passport and TIN;
  • registration address;
  • phone number;
  • email address

Identification through BankID is practically the same as checking documents at banks in person. When opening an account, Ukrainian banks record and save client data, such as full name, scanned copies of a passport and TIN, registration address, etc. This is approved by the standards of registration and storage of customer data and is controlled by the State represented by the National Bank of Ukraine. An access to the customer data when using BankID is protected as reliably as access to funds through the Internet Bank.

Current situation

Despite the permission to open accounts by individuals using BankID, banks do not yet provide such an opportunity. Currently, BankID is still used to identify the user via the Internet when providing administrative services, meaning that the first stage in the NBU concept continues. Connection to the system for all participants is free.

At the second stage, in addition to agreeing on regulatory and regulatory acts that will finally implement the concept of remote identification for remote opening of accounts by banks, the NBU accepts proposals for the pricing of services and the procedure for mutual settlements. Fees may be charged by the bank providing the services (the bank did the work – identified the client in its branches) from another bank or service that wants to identify the client through BankID.

The beginning of the second stage was started by amending the NBU Resolution No. 116 of November 5 of this year. Within the nearest future the service will provide access to banking and commercial services. In addition to banks, mobile operators and non-bank financial institutions are also very interested in this.

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