Strong Electronic Identification in Finland

Suomi.fi e-Identification is Finland's shared strong-identification service for public e-services that need to verify the user's identity. MyTax, Kela, municipal services and many other public transactions rely on strong identification, while similar credentials are also used in private banking and business services.

Having a Finnish personal identity code does not itself mean that you have a strong-identification token. The identity code is a population identifier; bank credentials, mobile certificates and certificate cards are separately issued authentication tools.

The frame for strong electronic identification is set by the Act on Strong Electronic Identification and Electronic Trust Services (617/2009), and under section 42 of that Act the duty to monitor compliance with it and with the EU's eIDAS Regulation belongs to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom. Only a provider entered in Traficom's register may issue a strong identification means. If a service asks you to prove who you are through something that is not on that register, it is not strong identification whatever the page calls it: your bank's in-app passcode, or a username you created for a service, is not the same thing as a strong identification means.

Since 1 May 2017 the providers in that register have formed a trust network for electronic identification, and a provider can act in it in two different roles: as an identification means provider, which issues the credential to you, or as an identification broker service, which passes the identification event on to the service you are logging into. That is why the login screen of a public service shows several banks and the mobile certificate side by side: the service has a contract with a broker, not with each bank. The practical consequence is that when a broker does not support a method, that method simply does not appear in that service, and nothing is wrong with your credential.

Suomi.fi's 2026 guidance lists personal Finnish online banking credentials, mobile certificates from DNA/Elisa/Telia, police-issued certificate cards, Hightrust.id and supported foreign identification methods among the available tokens. The e-service uses Suomi.fi to verify the selected method.

Not every e-service must support every foreign identification method. In particular, before relying on foreign identification or Finnish Authenticator, check whether the specific e-service permits that form of login.

A Finnish bank can provide a payment account while strong personal banking credentials suitable for e-identification remain subject to separate conditions. Suomi.fi states that banking credentials used for electronic identification must be issued personally to you and enabled for identification in services beyond ordinary banking transactions.

Access to a joint account or company online banking does not automatically create personal strong identification. Ask the bank specifically whether the credentials are enabled for strong electronic identification in external services.

If you cannot get bank credentials — no Finnish account yet, a bank that declined, or a bank that issues them only to its own long-standing customers — the police issue an identity card whose chip carries a Citizen Certificate, and that is the route to strong identification which depends on no bank's decision. A foreign citizen permanently resident in Finland can be issued an alien's identity card if their personal details are in the Population Information System and they hold a valid residence permit or residence card, or their right of residence has been registered. It costs EUR 59 at a service point and EUR 53 when the application is submitted online; rapid delivery is EUR 77, or EUR 71 online, and express delivery EUR 96, or EUR 90 online. The fees come from the Ministry of the Interior's Fees Regulation.

Know the card's limits from the start. An alien's identity card is issued for no longer than five years, and if your residence permit or residence card expires sooner, the card expires with it. It cannot be used as a travel document, only the police issue it, it cannot be applied for at a Finnish mission abroad, and the nationality field is marked XXX. To use the certificate on the chip in e-services you must first activate it by creating two personal PIN codes; renewing the activation number costs 25 EUR. The collection point has to be in Finland. On a repeat application you need not visit a police station for the online application if a processing officer identified you for a foreigner's identity card within the past 6 years and your name has not changed.

A mobile certificate is a SIM/eSIM-linked electronic-identification method provided by Finnish mobile operators. Suomi.fi's April 2026 guidance states that activation requires a DNA, Elisa or Telia subscription and Finnish online banking credentials for initial identity verification; activation is not available on a prepaid subscription.

For someone who already has bank identification, a mobile certificate can provide a convenient alternative for daily logins. Pricing and eSIM support can vary by operator, so check provider-specific conditions.

Finnish Authenticator is a mobile identification method intended for foreign users who cannot use ordinary Finnish identification tokens or supported European cross-border identification. Activation uses a foreigner's identifier (UID), identity document and selfie-based identity proofing.

An important limitation is that, according to Suomi.fi's 2026 guidance, Finnish Authenticator and certain foreign identification methods may not link the login to your Finnish personal identity code and identity record. Some e-services may therefore not offer the same functionality as when Finnish identity-linked credentials are used.

Being able to identify yourself strongly does not automatically allow you to act for every company. Suomi.fi e-Authorizations checks Trade Register representation rights or separately granted mandates when a person acts on behalf of another person or organisation.

Bank user IDs, passwords, code lists, mobile-certificate PINs and authentication approvals are personal. If a consultant, accountant, employer or family member needs to act on your behalf, use a lawful authorisation mechanism rather than sharing authentication credentials.