The first company established online using Smart-ID was accepted by the Registration Department of Tartu County Court on Monday. Previously, this was only possible using an Estonian digital ID card or mobile-ID.

Online company registration is now possible for Smart-ID users through an self-service portal provided by Unicount. The creators say it can be done in around three minutes.

Unicount connects directly to the Estonian Business Register through an interface (API), while offering services and guidance to make the process of creating a company more user-friendly.

It is the first portal to integrate Smart-ID for company creation, which is not yet possible directly through the Estonian Business Register.

Liisa Lukin, the Head of Business Development at SK ID Solutions AS, says many public services can already be used with Smart-ID, but not company registration: "So this is good news for everyone using Smart-ID, but most of all our e-residents, who cannot get a mobile-ID account. It is good example of private and public sector cooperation in opening up government services to new users."

Ingmar Vali, the Head of Court Registers department at the Centre of Registers and Information Systems, said the API will help develop a better user experience. He said: "Today's news about Smart-ID shows us that we can move faster in cooperation with private sector."

Ivar Veskioja, a member of the board of Unicount, says enabling Smart-ID for online company creation was an obvious next step: "We need to provide great user experience for smartphone and tablet users too. This means that ID-card cannot be the signature tool. We had to act knowing that Smart-ID already has twice the number of users compared to mobile-ID accounts in Estonia. Now every Estonian resident or e-resident can use any smart device to register a company online."

Smart-ID is a mobile app launched in 2016 by SK ID Solutions for online verification and digital signing. It's compatible with a wide range of services in Estonia, including banking and tax filing.

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