Four million Singaporeans can now access digital government services online using facial verification under the National Digital Identity (NDI) program. The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) is the government agency driving Singapore’s digital government transformation.

SingPass is every Singapore resident’s digital identity. It has evolved into a gateway allowing secure access to over 500 digital services offered by more than 180 government agencies and commercial entities.

Singapore is already allowing private sector organizations to leverage the government-built identity infrastructure for SingPass. Banks and other businesses, large and small, can securely integrate with SingPass face verification, to offer customer authentication capabilities without the cost of building their own systems.

The system automatically enables four million SingPass users to authenticate themselves and prove that they are genuinely present when accessing online government services on computers or at kiosks. Activities such as completing a tax return can now be completed with a simple facial biometric scan, replacing the need to remember passwords.

It marks the first time that cloud facial verification, provided by iProov, has been used to secure national digital identity. Ecquaria Integration Centre enables the integration between businesses and government agencies with facial biometric authentication.

“Singapore’s national digital identity, SingPass, enables citizens and permanent residents to transact seamlessly and securely with public and private sectors’ digital services,” said Quek Sin Kwok, Senior Director of National Digital Identity at GovTech Singapore in a press release. “We recently introduced a new biometrics face verification service for users to log in more conveniently to digital services, whilst providing an added layer of security for government agencies and businesses.”