E-ID as a strategic lever for digital competitiveness

Today, contact with the authorities is often unnecessarily complex for companies. The e-ID offers the opportunity to fundamentally improve this situation. For this improvement to be effective, digital identities for companies and their roles are also needed. Only when companies can also identify themselves digitally can all processes, whether between companies and the authorities or between companies directly, be fully automated.

Three steps are needed to create the basis for a digital ecosystem:

1. Harmonization of access: A single digital login for as many authority processes as possible at national, cantonal and communal level.
2. Once-only principle: Data that has been recorded correctly once must not be requested again.
3. Continuous digital processes: From application to result without media discontinuity.

This reduces the administrative burden in enforcement, especially for SMEs, which have to spend a disproportionate amount of time and resources on recurring registration and approval procedures.

What specific opportunities does the current E-ID offer the economy?

The E-ID not only creates efficiency, it also opens up new commercial and technological potential. These include:

• Standardized digital identity verification for banks, insurance companies and fintechs: Faster onboarding, more efficient KYC, fewer fraud risks.
• Automated compliance processes: Less manual verification, clearer and verifiable identities, direct integration options in internal systems.
• Legally binding age verification in e-commerce: Without additional providers and without media disruption.
• Digital verification and certificate chains in industry and logistics: supply chain documentation, proof of origin, machine certificates - all clearly verifiable.
• New data-driven services: providers can integrate secure identity functions into platforms without having to operate their own identity infrastructures.

This creates an innovation-friendly environment in which companies can develop new products, reduce costs and automate processes. The e-ID will thus become a multiplier for productivity in business and administration.

Interoperability and international connectivity

In order for the e-ID to realize its economic potential, it must be compatible with international standards, especially the European e-ID systems. This is a critical location factor for export-oriented industries, digital platforms and cross-border services.

What is now politically necessary

The adoption of the law was only the first step. Now we need:

• consistent user orientation to ensure acceptance and trust among the population
• binding requirements for process harmonization between the Confederation and the cantons,
• open interfaces for the private sector,
• clear governance rules and transparent responsibilities,
• and a technical architecture that enables competition and innovation,

Conclusion

The e-ID is not an end in itself. It is a digital infrastructure that must succeed in modernizing Switzerland as a business location. If the federal government and cantons break down silos and involve the private sector, a digital ecosystem will be created that simplifies processes, enables new business models and strengthens competitiveness.

This article was first published on February 25, 2026 on netzwoche.ch