iDenfy has integrated Austria's Handy-Signatur eID into its identity verification platform, adding a non-document verification option.
The addition allows businesses to verify Austrian users through a credential already used across public and private sector services, without requiring a physical document at the point of onboarding.
According to the official press release, the credential is applied across government services, banking platforms, and private sector applications in the German-speaking region. Within iDenfy's system, users confirm their identity through a mobile authentication flow using a passcode or a mobile SMS one-time password. The verification then draws on qualified-signature-backed identity data rather than information extracted from a scanned document.
Handy-Signatur is issued by the Austrian government and built on the OIDC standard. Each successful authentication returns a fixed set of attributes, including given name and family name, sourced from the government record rather than a document photograph. Because the credential is government-issued, it operates within the legal framework governing Austria's electronic identity infrastructure. Furthermore, iDenfy noted that Handy-Signatur certificates are valid for a maximum of five years; if not renewed before expiry, users must reapply in person at a registration authority to regain access to digital services.
Regulatory context
The integration also aligns with the EU's eIDAS 2.0 framework (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183), which requires all 27 member states to make at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet available by 31 December 2026, and mandates that banks, payment institutions, and e-money issuers accept digital identity credentials as a valid authentication mechanism under strong customer authentication (SCA). As a state-managed identity backed by a qualified signature, Handy-Signatur falls within this framework.
It was also said that the credential has underpinned Austria's identity infrastructure for more than a decade, adding that clients serving that market can now verify users through a method they already use, without requiring them to switch systems or produce a document.
iDenfy clients can enable the Handy-Signatur workflow through dashboard settings, without additional coding or integration work. The system can route users automatically to an electronic ID verification method, including Handy-Signatur or other supported non-document options, when document capture fails or is unavailable, for instance, due to image quality or lighting conditions. According to iDenfy, this scenario is a recurring cause of session drop-off during onboarding. The combined document and non-document verification flow is available to all iDenfy clients at no additional cost.
