Signicat now offers Local IdP in addition to MitID Business as a login and signing option
Signicat now helps organisations integrate Local IdP as an additional login method for their website or app. Most Municipalities and several large organisations in Denmark use Local IdP as the primary digital business identity for their employees. Allowing employees of these organisations the flexibility to login to your website with Local IdP instead of MitID Business (MitID Erhverv) ensures a smooth login experience for all types of business customers
Most businesses in Denmark are familiar with MitID Business (MitID Erhverv). It is a digital business identity issued by the Danish Agency for Digital Government (Digitaliseringsstyrelsen) in Denmark for a person to identify himself as an employee of a particular organisation. Several websites allow Danish business customers to login and access their online services through MitID Business as a convenient and secure option for login. However, “Local IdP”- a relatively new solution from Digitaliseringsstyrelsen is somewhat less known, but nevertheless a crucial part of delivering a smooth customer experience to business customers.
Local IdP is local
Unlike MitID Business where business identities are issued more centrally by Digitaliseringsstyrelsen and are primarily for logging in to external websites of online service providers like banks and insurance companies, Local IdP (which stands for “Local Identity Provider”) is a business identity issued locally by an organisation to its employees in Denmark.
With Local IdP, the same login and password can be used by a company’s employees to both log in to internal systems as well as external websites of service providers on behalf of their company. In order to login to an external website with Local IdP credentials, the website needs to give users the option of logging in with Local IdP.
For example, with Local IdP, a Finance Manager in Copenhagen Municipality can log into the Municipality’s internal systems. He can use the same credentials and login to the Municipality’s bank as an employee of the Municipality to view and set up payment agreements of the municipality (provided the bank supports logging in through Local IdP)
Close to 120 organisations in Denmark issue and use Local IdP today
A majority of the organisations issuing Local IdP for their employees today are public sector organisations like Municipalities (“Kommuner”) and large institutions such as Danske Bank, Nordea, Nykredit, Jyske Bank, PFA, Alm Brand and HOFOR. These organisations issue Local IdPs for their employees that identify them as employees of the organisation with specific roles and access rights.
“Our company website lets our business customers login with MitID Business. Why do we need to support Local IdP as well? ”
If you are a service provider with business customers from Denmark, particularly public sector customers such as Danish Municipalities, there are most likely several of them whose employees use Local IdP instead of MitID Business. Those customers will not be able to login and access your services with their Local IdP if this login option is not available. If any of the 120 organisations currently using Local IdP are current or potential customers, it is recommended to offer Local IdP as a login option in addition to MitID Business.
Giving customers the flexibility to login to your services with MitID, MitID Business or Local IdP ensures a smooth login experience for all types of customers.