Citizens and the state: access to public services will be available through the bank

Photo: Oleg Kharseyev / Kommersant

In the near future, citizens of the Russian Federation will be spared the need to go through complex procedures to gain access to public services. The Ministry of Communications is now implementing a new project for cooperation with major banks, writes Kommersant. Banks will connect their customers to public services. In addition, banks will simplify access to information from government agencies about citizens (provided that the citizen has given his consent to this).

“The point is that banks that a priori identify customers can provide their customers with access to public services directly in the Internet bank,” said Alexey Kozyrev, deputy head of the Ministry of Communications. The technical implementation of the project will look like this: the banks participating in the implementation of this idea fulfill a number of rules established by the Ministry of Communications, and after that they get the opportunity to implement the registration function on the public services portal. When a button is pressed, a citizen receives on his phone the information necessary to enter the portal, and can begin to work with public services.

Currently, a citizen can get access to the public services portal only after visiting the identity verification point. If you want to use the full functionality of the service, a citizen is required to provide data on SNILS, visit a certification center, and receive an electronic digital signature. Now the services of the portal are used by 20 million people.

In the near future, the Ministry of Communications plans to implement another interesting project. “We are developing an open platform that will give banks the opportunity to provide public services directly in the Internet bank, without going to the portal itself, this is a question of 2016,” said Alexei Kozyrev. After that, a citizen will be able to apply for a passport, receive information on fines and taxes, and perform other operations.