General News

New Service Makes It Possible for My Number Cardholders to Leave Their IDs at Home

Courtesy of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry
Sample My Number Card

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:20 JST, May 11, 2023

A service enabling My Number cardholders to use a smartphone app in place of the physical identification cards launched on Thursday.

The Digital Agency is touting the convenience of the new service, which allows administrative procedures to be carried out online, without cardholders needing to have their My Number IDs at hand.

The service is currently only available on mobile devices that use the Android operating system.

My Number cardholders have to apply through the Mynaportal app to use the service. Once registered, related procedures can be carried out anytime with just a smartphone.

The government is currently in talks with Apple Inc. to make the service available on iPhones.

By the end of this year, users will be able to print copies of residence and birth certificates, among other documents, at convenience stores.

The government also wants to make it possible for My Number cardholders to use the smartphone service in place of health insurance cards by April next year.