Japanese Govt Aims for Wider Range of Use of My Number ID Cards From Spring 2025; About 75.7％ of Population Has the ID

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:16 JST, December 2, 2024

The government aims to make My Number personal identification cards for all residents in Japan capable of being used for a wider range of purposes.

A total of 94.49 million people had the ID card as of the end of October, or about 75.7% of the population.

The government plans to make the cards, which are now also used as public health insurance certificates, usable for various other purposes such as a driver’s license, so that the cards will become increasingly convenient in people’s daily lives.

The issuance of My Number cards started in January 2016.

Currently, holders of the ID cards can also use them for obtaining copies of their resident registration documents at convenience stores.

According to the Japan Agency for Local Authority Information Systems (J-LIS), which operates the system at convenience stores, about 31.89 million copies of resident registration documents were obtained via the system in fiscal 2023. The figure increased 1.5-fold from the previous year.

The use of the cards to confirm a person’s identity has also become widespread. For example, financial institutions utilize clients’ My Number cards for opening securities transaction accounts on the internet and signing housing loan contracts.

Using the cards as a driver’s license will begin in March 2025.

My Number cards that are also used as a driver’s license will store information such as the license category and expiration date inside chips that are installed in the cards.

People will be able to switch from their current driver’s license to the My Number card type if they wish.