Taiwan government joins the new mobile generation, applied mobile identity authentication function on National Health Insurance Administration platform, which means that the physical IC Card are no longer required when logging into it.
Taiwan National Health Insurance(NHI) Administration announced on May 29th, that the NHI platform and app now support simplified “mobile identity authentication” function, which adopt the “My number” mobile identity authentication service of Alliance Digital Technology Corporation (ADTC). The service is applied in the “My Health Bank” service of NHI, which lets citizens do the identity authentication through internet with just a few steps, by entering mobile number and ID card number, to check their own outpatient medical records and insurance records, moreover, pay NHI premium online. With this service, beneficiaries can simply use the Internet to download their health care information to effectively manage their own health or provide it to physicians when they seek medical attention from multiple hospitals. A key difference is, before the mobile identity authentication function is applied, Taiwan citizens could only log into the NHI platform by using computer-connected-reader and physical NHI IC card, to ensure the cyber secure.
ADTC points out, that the “My Number” identity authentication has been further upgraded into a “real-name authentication” service—making it more than just a universal login mechanism, but rather a national-level authentication method that can be used to identify “residents”.
The authentication function boasts a four-factor authentication: smartphone as a device, SIM card, phone number, and National ID Number—all four must be supplied correctly to proceed. The user needs to use the account bound to their phone number, the SIM card installed within their mobile device, and input their phone and ID numbers to complete the authentication process. With its four-factor authentication, can raise the level services so that authentication covers all citizens. The service is applied in the UUPon shared points loyalty program offered via EasyCard, and the payment platform “pay.taipei” of Taipei government.
The mobile identity authentication function of NHI “My Health Bank” account has been used 140 thousand times in half of month after the officially online, and once the most downloaded iPhone app in Taiwan. Taiwan is striving to be a digital nation and a smart island, their government is seeking to deploy digital public services will soon be able to count on their citizenries to make it the natural choice for authentication.