Published on December 12, 2018

Identité Numérique: local services supporting digital development

L’Identité Numérique, La Poste’s digital ID service, is the only one of its kind to include face-to-face verification by a mail carrier or customer advisor, guaranteeing optimal security for customers. Free of charge and open to all, the service reasserts La Poste’s intention to be the essential player in the digital lives of French people.

L’Identité Numérique is a service which certifies that an individual is indeed who they claim to be. It protects personal data and keeps it safe in a digital world. This tool for combatting fraud and identity theft will play an increasingly important role in the digitisation of many processes. It currently provides access to some 400 public services via the France Connect digital platform, including sickness insurance, tax, and requests for vehicle registration documents.

A fast, accessible process

Creating a digital ID with La Poste is very easy: you simply scan your ID document, fill in a request form, and complete the process by having these items verified at home by a mail carrier, or by a customer advisor in a post office. “The face-to-face meeting, which we are alone in offering, allows three things to happen,” explains Candice Dauge, Director of the Identité Numérique programme within the Digital Business Unit. “First of all, the ID document can be verified as authentic. Then the accuracy of the information can be checked. And, finally, a smartphone can be linked to a digital identity via real-time code-sharing.”

La Poste, in touch with the whole of France

L’Identité Numérique is a service available to the entire French population. “Our local network, a dense structure that covers every region, enables us to reach the whole population of France on a daily basis,” states Candice Dauge. La Poste is a trusted third party for French people, public administrations, and companies, and we are maintaining this key role in the digital world. We are marrying our digital expertise with the power of our physical network. This is where our strength lies.”

Simplifying everyday life

By 2022, most everyday tasks will be accessible online, and we’ll be able to log on with our digital identities to sign our children up for pre-school, open an account remotely, and much more. From 2019 onwards, many postal processes will also be transformed by L’Identité Numérique. “With L’Identité Numérique, an ID document will no longer be required to register powers of attorney, redirect mail, pick up a parcel, or receive electronic registered mail. A smartphone will suffice. This will make life easier for our customers and employees alike!” says Candice Dauge.