People who still have active Danish bank accounts but no longer live in the country are among those who risk being unable to log in to their accounts after November 1st because they cannot attend local services in person to register for the new digital ID, MitID.

Thousands of Danish nationals who live abroad could find themselves in situations of this kind, newspaper Politiken reported earlier in October.

The Local has been contacted by former foreign residents of Denmark who have also described uncertainty over their MitID access because they have left the country and are therefore prevented from going to a local municipal public help desk (borgerservice).

An in-person appointment is required in many cases to confirm a person’s identity as part of the changeover from the outgoing system, NemID.

READ ALSO: How non-Danish passport holders can switch from NemID to MitID

The Danish Agency for Digitisation told Politiken that the issue impacts less than 20,000 people and a solution is on the way for some.

“If you cannot get MitID with NemID or by scanning your passport in the MitID app, you must attend borgerservice [in person] to get MitID, for example, next time you are in Denmark,” MitID states on its website.

People without Danish passports are more likely to need to attend Borgerservice because foreign passports cannot be used to verify ID in the MitID app.

The Danish Agency for Digitisation told Politiken this week that “because a parliamentary election has been called, the Agency for Digitisation cannot in principle comment to the press” apart from to provide factual information.

In comments to the paper earlier this month, the agency did not comment on whether it was reasonable to ask digital ID users to travel thousands of kilometres to register for MitID.

“It is estimated that there are now fewer than 20,000 active NemID users based abroad who have not yet got MitID and who needed to be ID-verified to get MitID,” the agency said.

“A solution is on the way which will make it possible to use foreign passports to set up MitID via the MitID app,” it said.

“If you are unable to get MitID by October 31st, and you need to access your mobile or internet banking after this date, you should contact your bank,” it said.

The Danish Foreign Ministry told Politiken it did not wish to comment on the situation and referred the matter to the Agency for Digitisation.

READ ALSO: MitID: Up to half a million in Denmark could lose access to online banking

The MitID digital ID system is gradually replacing NemID as the online ID used in Denmark for access to public service platforms, online banking and shopping online.

NemID will be turned off for secure platforms including banking on October 31st. After this date, only MitID can be used to log on to these platforms.

While NemID will still be enough to access government services like sundhed.dk, borger.dk and e-Boks, insurance and utility companies will also require MitID from November onwards. 

As such, MitID will be needed to log on to online banking from November 1st.

Those who do not make the switch before the deadline will still be able to do so after it, including in person at municipalities, the Danish Agency for Digitisation has also told Politiken.

Other platforms, like online shopping, will still accept NemID for now. The old system will be fully decommissioned on June 30th, 2023. 

The new MitID has been introduced to improve security and future-proof Denmark’s digital ID system, authorities say.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s MitID secured after discovery of security weakness