TUPAS eID to expire in September

The Finnish Online Bank Identification (TUPAS) eID will be expiring next month. Under both the eIDAS legislation and Finnish law, the TUPAS technical protocol no longer qualifies as a strong authentication method. At the same time, a newly-competitive marketplace for eID providers is opening up in Finland.

New standards for strong authentication

TUPAS, provided by a group of Finnish banks, is an eID means that allows Finnish citizens to use their bank identification credentials to authenticate themselves with businesses and organizations, including e-commerce merchants, telecoms, and government services.

The transition period for the expiring technical protocol comes to an end on September 30, 2019. After the deadline, the banks that own and administer the TUPAS platform will need to use either SAML2 or OIDC protocols to provide strong authentication and thus remain in compliance.

New competition in Finnish digital identity marketplace

In parallel with evolving technical standards, changes in the Finnish eID marketplace are also afoot. Until now, service providers using TUPAS have had to make separate contractual arrangements with each of the providing banks they use.

But now a new, more competitive situation is opening up. Based on the legal framework provided by the eIDAS regulations, the Finnish government has established the Finnish Trust Network (FTN). Under the FTN, eID brokers can use a standardised service contract to act as intermediaries between the eID providers and the businesses and organisations in Finland offering online authentication to their customers.

Working with a digital identity partner

Given the fast-changing nature of the current eID landscape, staying current is a challenge. But working with a partner like Scrive makes it much easier. Scrive’s eID Hub allows businesses and other organisations to offer eID authentication in their online services via a single platform.

The eID market in Europe is in a particularly dynamic phase, and as it continues to grow and evolve, Scrive too is adapting to changing laws and technical standards to keep our customers up to date and in compliance. And as new eID means are developed and come onto the market in the various EU Member States, Scrive’s customers will be able to offer them to their own customers through a single access point.

Scrive eID Hub: Many eIDs. One API.