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PKO Bank Polski says 30,000 of its online banking customers have moved to create ‘Trusted Profiles’, enabling them to log-on to Government services and electronically sign documents using just their banking IDs. The initiative forms part of the Polish Government’s “From paper to digital Poland” project conducted by the Ministry of Digital Affairs in cooperation with the banking sector.
Under the project, Poles can use their banking ID and password to log in to the social insurance board, contact public administration offices or a given local government’s site to apply for benefits and sign documents.
The creation of a Trusted Profile for access to online Government services has been a barrier to wider uptake, as subscribers first had to confirm their identity with a public services unit. In August, this administrative effort was shifted to the banking sector, with PKO Bank Polski the first Polish bank to enable customers to create their Trusted Profile from its Website.
“By providing commercial entities with trusted profile set-up tools, citizens will no more have to confirm their identity with an authorised public administration unit,” says Anna Streżyńska, Minister of Digital Affairs. “This is a game-changer in the approach towards digital services and digitisation. Just compare the number of the existing Trusted Profile users with figures showing those who use on-line banking, respectively – a bit more than 500 thousand right next to as many as 16 million.”
It takes just a few minutes to create a Trusted Profile which allows the access to e-government platforms. PKO Bank Polski was the first bank to join the project. Poles can use their banking ID and password to log in to the social insurance board ZUS, contact public administration offices or a given local government’s site to apply for the benefit. The customers of PKO Bank Polski can open their Trusted Profiles in the banking transaction service and handle many official matters over the Internet – log to e-government services and submit their electronic signature.
PKO Bank Polski enables clients to contact public administration offices via their bank account. It takes just a few minutes to create the Trusted Profile which allows access to e-government platforms. Thanks to it, customers may order EKUZ cards (European Health Insurance Card), file an application for ID card or driving license, notify the sale of a car, obtain copies of birth, marriage or death certificates or register their business activity. They may also freely use all the functions of the PUE ZUS service (social insurance), quickly obtain a criminal record certificate or an individual tax interpretation. What’s more important, they get the possibility to affix electronic signature to applications and official letters.
PKO Bank Polski was the first to join the project “From paper to digital Poland”, which is a part of the Plan for Responsible Development led by Ministry of Development. The bank’s customers may already file “500+ applications” (social benefits) and log to the PUE ZUS, and from now on, they are able to create Trusted Profiles in their transaction service. The created Profile allows to log in and sign electronically applications and forms on selected public administration sites. This takes place similarly to the quick payments in e-stores – the bank authenticates the provided customer’s data and then re-logs the customer to the selected service or allows to confirm the submitted instruction or application. At the same time, at no point data are exchanged between the authority and the bank, thus making the process safe and confidential.
“We are a technology leader in the banking sector. We have the experience, unique to the market, in creating user-friendly and safe solutions, recognized both by the market and the users. At the same time, we boast the largest database of customers, for whom using e-administration services means saving time and money. This is true to a large extent for small and medium companies which are the driving force of the economic growth of Poland. This is why I cannot imagine us not getting involved in the works on digitalization of the public administration services. The success of this project is a success of the Polish economy and of the Polish citizens” said Zbigniew Jagiełło, President of the Board of PKO Bank Polski.