T-Mobile becomes first provider to launch bank identity verification in Czechia

T-Mobile has become the first mobile phone operator in Czechia to introduce online verification via bank identity (Bank iD). This will allow people to order a new phone or data plan remotely, without needing to prove their identity in person.

Previously, people buying a tariff or new phone with T-Mobile would need to do so in-store or via a courier – this is currently the case for all other major mobile phone carriers in Czechia. 

On its website, T-Mobile writes that during an online purchase, customers no longer need to manually fill in all web boxes detailing their personal data (such as names and addresses). This will be automatically provided when signing in via bank identity. 

To mark T-Mobile’s new service, the company will randomly select three customers who use the new bank identity verification method during a purchase in May to receive a reward. 

Bank iD in Czechia enables digital identity verification when communicating with authorities and in the private sector. Over 2.7 million people in the country have already used the service – more than one-third of the adult population in Czechia. More information can be found on the official website, which is offered in English.

Although the majority of foreigners – including EU nationals – in Czechia right now are unable to receive a Bank iD (due to their documents being in an electronically unreadable format), the system will this year incorporate non-Czechs on a widescale level.

"Foreigners with non-electronically readable documents are gradually being fully entered into the registers. In the second quarter, banks will start issuing bank identities to them remotely. It is estimated that there may be another 600,000 potential Bank iD users," says Bank iD chief Jan Blažek in Peníze.cz.

This development will come as welcome news to T-Mobile customers – current and prospective alike – and may at least slightly soften the blow of paying among the highest prices for phone tariffs in the entire EU.