Estonian companies can now be established just using Smart-ID app. The first ever company established online using Smart-ID was today accepted by Registration Department of Tartu County Court. Previously, this was only possible using an Estonian digital ID card or mobile-ID.
It just became even easier to establish a company online in Estonia. Online company formation is now possible for Smart-ID users through a new self-service portal provided by Unicount.
Unicount connects directly to the Estonian Business Register through an API, while offering additional tools, services and guidance to make the process of creating a company more user-friendly. It is also now the first portal to integrate Smart-ID for company creation, which is not yet possible directly through the Estonian Business Register.
Smart-ID is a mobile app launched in 2016 by SK ID Solutions for online verification and digital signing. It’s already compatible with a wide range of services in Estonia, including banking and tax filing, and is particularly popular with e-residents as they are unable to use mobile-ID. The Smart-ID account needs to be registered on or after 8 November 2018 to be used for company creation through Unicount as this was the date when new Smart-ID accounts gained Qualified Electronic Signature status equal to Estonian mobile-ID and ID-card.
The Estonian Centre of Registers and Information Systems, the state agency that operates Estonian Business Register, launched company registration API at the beginning of 2017. It was made to be used by service providers who assist Estonian e-residents with online company formation.
Unicount started serving e-residents in the autumn of 2019, enabling easy Estonian company formation for one-person businesses through a self-service online portal. As of 9 of March this service is accessible to anyone with Estonian personal identification code and capable of signing with Smart-ID, ID-card or mobile-ID.
SK ID Solutions is the partner of the Estonian state in issuing certificates for national identity documents. The company introduced Smart-ID in Baltics 2017. First 18 months saw a million Smart-ID user accounts registered, three years later they have over 2,6 million users doing over 50 million transactions every month in more than 200 e-services.
