iDenfy, a player in the identity verification and fraud prevention sector, has unveiled a new feature within its digital ID portfolio, known as .beID.
This integration introduces Belgium's national smart card identity system into iDenfy's current non-document verification onboarding solutions. Businesses can now incorporate this streamlined method to verify Belgian users through their government-issued eID card, bypassing the traditional requirement for capturing physical ID documents during onboarding.
Introducing .beID: Verified Identity Attributes
The Belgian Electronic Identity Card (.beID) was initially introduced in 2002 and stands as one of the most well-established electronic identity systems within Europe. By 2012, 99% of Belgian citizens aged 12 and over had received these cards, and millions were already using them for online authentication.
Now regarded as a central tool for onboarding across public administration, banking, healthcare, and private services, .beID functions as a card authentication service. Users simply insert their smart card into a reader and provide their PIN, allowing the card chip to authenticate using cryptographic challenges and return verified identity details directly from the government-issued credentials.
Moving Beyond Document-Based Verification
Critically, .beID removes the need for scanning physical ID documents entirely
The .beID system eliminates the step of capturing and recognizing images that are typical in document-based verification. It also removes any issues with image quality or lighting. Operating under PKCS#11 and OIDC standards, .beID holds the eIDAS Level of Assurance High certification, which is the utmost category under the European identity assurance framework. During verification, the system scans deterministic attributes such as the user's given name, family name, and date of birth directly from chip-level certificates.
Critically, .beID removes the need for scanning physical ID documents entirely. Belgian users who offer their eID card via this integration experience no necessity for document photography. The chip-level credentials provide a higher assurance level than a document scan could, eliminating failure points of image-based capture. Businesses directing Belgian clients through the .beID path replace document scanning with a more secure, reliable, and regulatory-compliant process. iDenfy's CEO, Domantas Ciulde, highlights the enhanced security and legal robustness under European regulation that this technology brings.
Compliance and Integration in Business Onboarding
The .beID integration complements iDenfy's standard document-based KYC flow
In compliance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, the eIDAS 2.0 framework mandates all 27 EU member states to offer at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet to citizens by December 2026. It also requires banks, payment institutions, and electronic money providers to accept digital IDs for Strong Customer Authentication. Belgium's .beID aligns with these requirements at the highest assurance level. Currently, businesses using solely document photography to verify identities fail to meet expected standards set by regulators and users.
The .beID integration complements iDenfy's standard document-based KYC flow, allowing businesses to direct Belgian users to the .beID verification path automatically. The system can be activated without extra cost through dashboard settings, and it allows simultaneous document-based verification if necessary. This leads to a user-friendly onboarding experience by detecting the user's IP address to provide the correct flow automatically. As Domantas Ciulde stated, ".beID is not a convenience layer on top of the Belgian identity system. Every eligible citizen has one, every government service accepts it, and the chip-level cryptographic process it uses is more secure than just a photograph of a document."
Expanding Global Identity Verification
iDenfy's platform provides coverage for over 16,000 government-issued documents across more than 200 countries and territories.
With the addition of .beID, the platform significantly increases its non-document verification capabilities for Belgian users, completely replacing document scanning. Cases that exceed automated parameters are reviewed by iDenfy's compliance team, which operates continuously without interruptions. Support for .beID is now available across iDenfy's identity verification platform.
iDenfy, a global RegTech company for identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, announced a new addition to its digital ID suite, .beID.
The new eID workflow integration brings Belgium’s national smart card identity system into iDenfy’s existing non-document verification onboarding solutions, allowing businesses to integrate more native, already familiar onboarding flows in various markets. Currently, using iDenfy, businesses will be able to verify Belgian users through their government-issued eID card, replacing the need for a physical ID document capture at the onboarding stage.
Verified identity attributes
The Belgian Electronic Identity Card (.beID) was first officially introduced in 2002. It’s considered to be one of the most established national electronic identity systems in Europe. In 2012, 99% of Belgian citizens over the age of 12 had received the cards, and the system was already used for online authentication by millions of users. The scope has now widened. Since being in circulation for over two decades and becoming the standard identification instrument, .beID is the go-to onboarding method across public administration, banking, healthcare, and private sector services.
.beID works like a card authentication service, meaning the user inserts their physical smart card into a card reader and enters their PIN. The chip embedded in the card then signs a cryptographic challenge using its certificates, returning verified identity attributes directly from the government-issued credential.
Document-based verification
This process eliminates the image capture and optical character recognition steps that document-based verification relies on, along with the image quality failures and lighting issues that accompany them.
The system operates under the PKCS#11 and OIDC standards and carries eIDAS Level of Assurance High certification, the highest category in the European identity assurance framework. During every single verification, .beID scans the user’s given name, family name, and date of birth as deterministic attributes, which are delivered directly from chip-level certificates and not extracted from a photographed surface.
Physical ID document
Critically, .beID replaces the traditional physical ID document scan entirely, not partially. For Belgian users who present their eID card through this integration, there is no residual need for document photography capture.
The chip-level credential covers the full scope of what a document scan would otherwise provide, at a higher level of assurance and without the failure points that image-based capture introduces. A business that routes Belgian users through the .beID verification path does not offer just an alternative to document scanning. According to iDenfy’s CEO, Domantas Ciulde, it’s replacing it with a process that’s more reliable, more secure, and more legally robust under European regulation:
Highest assurance level
“Users are often picky, even when it comes to processes like user verification. This year at iDenfy, we started to look into not only industry specifics but also market nuances that each country has. That’s how the idea of adding digital IDs to our stack was born.”
For businesses, the compliance position is clear. Under Regulation (EU) 2024/1183, the eIDAS 2.0 framework requires all 27 EU member states to make at least one EU Digital Identity Wallet available to citizens by December 31, 2026, and obliges banks, payment institutions, and electronic money providers to accept digital IDs as a valid method for Strong Customer Authentication. Belgium’s .beID infrastructure is already aligned with those requirements at the highest assurance level. A business that serves Belgian users, solely relying on document photography to verify identities, is operating below the standard that both regulators and users expect.
Onboarding flow automatically
The beID integration was built to operate alongside the platform’s standard document-based KYC flow. Businesses can now configure the platform to route Belgian users to the .beID digital verification path automatically and take advantage of its full ID scan replacement capability.
The combined flow is available to all iDenfy users at no additional cost and can be activated through the dashboard settings. If needed, document-based workflows can be used at the same time as a way not to lose the customer and convert more users through an onboarding process that they already use and know in their country. iDenfy’s system detects the user’s IP and shows the right onboarding flow automatically.
Identity verification platform
“.beID is not a convenience layer on top of the Belgian identity system. Every eligible citizen has one, every government service accepts it, and the chip-level cryptographic process it uses is more secure than just a photograph of a document. Adding beID to our platform means our clients can verify Belgian users the way the Belgian government intended them to be verified,” commented Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.
iDenfy’s platform currently covers over 16,000+ government-issued documents across over 200+ countries and territories. The addition of .beID extends the non-document layer of that coverage with a credential that goes further than most, replacing document scanning entirely for Belgian users rather than supplementing it. Cases that fall outside automated parameters are reviewed by iDenfy’s internal compliance team, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no interruptions for weekends or public holidays. .beID support is available now across iDenfy’s identity verification platform.
