Published on 26 May 2026
FAQ on the interaction between AGOV and the e-ID – for authorities (agov.ch/abc)
No, AGOV remains the authentication service for the Swiss authorities, i.e. the login system for Swiss e-government. This is because the e-ID alone cannot be used to log in; it requires the login broker system AGOV. Put simply, the e-ID is a digital identity card on your smartphone.
The e-ID can be used directly in AGOV as a login factor.
The process works as follows: open the government application, start the AGOV login process, present the e-ID, and you are logged in.
Presenting the e-ID specifically means scanning the e-ID QR code displayed on the AGOV page with the wallet app on the smartphone (where the e-ID is stored). The wallet app is called swiyu. A brief explanation of using the e-ID with AGOV.
The existing AGOV login factors, namely the AGOV access App and FIDO security keys, continue to function. End users remain free to choose and can even alternate between these login factors while using the same AGOV account.
Using the e-ID in AGOV has a highly desirable effect: the corresponding AGOV account is then automatically considered to have undergone substantial identity verification. This status can also be achieved without ever using the e-ID as an AGOV login factor, by registering it once on agov.ch/me.
If AGOV end users wish to obtain substantial identity verification in AGOV without using the e-ID, online identity verification with a physical identity document remains available in AGOV. The transaction costs are borne either by the authority or by the end users themselves (if online self-payment has been enabled by the authority in AGOV).
No, e-government users will continue to log in to government applications using AGOV and remain free to choose whether or not they want to use the e-ID for this purpose, i.e. present it as a direct login factor in AGOV. Please also refer to FAQ A.2.
Yes, the e-ID can be used in all cases to log in to AGOV, including cases that do not require identity verification.
Regarding login factors, AGOV users have a free choice between the AGOV access app, a FIDO security key, and the Swiss e-ID, and can use these login factors interchangeably with the same AGOV account. Thus, the political principle of voluntariness for the e-ID has been technically implemented.
At the configuration level, it is fundamentally possible for AGOV to exclusively accept the Swiss e-ID as the AGOV login factor for logging into certain applications. However, account must be taken of the legal basis for such configurations and the implementation of the political principle of voluntariness for the e-ID - in this case, outside of AGOV.
No, an AGOV login always remains an original AGOV login for the target applications, even when the e-ID is used as a login factor.
If you recommend using the e-ID, this can bring the advantage for your authority that no identity verification costs are incurred (provided that your applications require AGOV identity verifications). However, the political principle of voluntariness for the e-ID must be respected.
Since it is very user-friendly to log into applications directly via AGOV using the e-ID, AGOV generally makes the e-ID attractive as a login factor. The use of the e-ID can be visually emphasized by presenting the e-ID login factor as the primary option. However, this is currently not being done because the use of the AGOV access App as the primary option is already widespread throughout Switzerland.
In the area of identity verification within AGOV, end users are encouraged to use the e-ID rather than the cost-generating alternatives.
If the e-ID is used for identity verification instead of the cost-generating private-sector identity verification methods in AGOV, no costs are incurred by the authorities. See FAQ A.2 and FAQ A.8, last paragraph in each case.
There will be many digital credentials in the Swiss e-ID ecosystem. These may include identity cards, residence permits, high school diplomas, driver’s licenses, matriculation cards, membership cards, and many more. AGOV is capable of transmitting all digital credentials from the Swiss e-ID ecosystem to target applications as attributes in the OIDC or SAML context. Target applications must inform AGOV which digital credentials need to be collected during login and whether this collection is optional or mandatory.
Neither the e-ID nor AGOV are electronic signatures, triggers for digital signatures, or signature services. If an authority wants documents to be electronically signed, the AGOV login is not involved in the signature process itself, but possibly in the login to the data room where the relevant document is stored or to which it is to be uploaded.
User-friendliness increases when digital signatures are not required for declaration of intent and the actual AGOV login itself is sufficient. Authorities have already introduced and legally established the validity of high-assurance AGOV logins as expressions of intent (see Declaration of intent work with and without QES in the AGOV / e-ID context).
With AGOV, such a separation is possible; with the e-ID, it is not. This can be inferred from the fact that there is also no such distinction with the physical identity card. At the same time, this aspect is mitigated by AGOV: a single Swiss e-ID can be linked to multiple AGOV accounts.
A separation at the AGOV level is therefore possible, but not mandatory. A single AGOV account can be used for all transactions – whether private, business-related, or association-related. The AGOV account always represents the natural person acting either on their own behalf or on behalf of a legal entity; the respective context of action is not represented within AGOV, but rather within the relevant government e-service application with which the user interacts. Alternatively, the context of action can also be transmitted via AGOV, for example if the target application requests a corresponding (additional) digital credential from the e-ID ecosystem through AGOV and the end users provide it, such as an MDID (agov.ch/mdid).
Many end users nevertheless appreciate a separation at the AGOV account level. This can be achieved by registering multiple AGOV accounts – each under a context-appropriate email address – and optionally linking them to the person’s e-ID. AGOV also works without the e-ID, for example with the AGOV access App and/or FIDO security keys; the latter can support multiple AGOV accounts.
For legal entities, natural persons act on their behalf, and these individuals use AGOV with or without the use of the e-ID. See also FAQ A.14.
Actually, no. The e-ID and AGOV – meaning the AGOV login with or without the use of the e-ID – always represent exactly one natural person acting either on their own behalf or on behalf of others. It is the responsibility of the target systems to establish the relevant context (e.g. determining and representing the affiliation relevant to the transaction). However, AGOV can provide contextual information from the e-ID ecosystem by transmitting additional digital credentials, such as electronic identity cards. See also FAQ A.10 and agov.ch/mdid.
No. AGOV can receive such credentials and forward them to target applications (see FAQ A.10), but AGOV is not an “issuer” of digital credentials within the Swiss e-ID ecosystem. Regarding issuing, see keyword DVS4U.
Physical identity documents do not contain an email address or residential address because such data changes too frequently. The same consideration applies to the Swiss e-ID. AGOV always supplements the results of login processes in which the e-ID is used directly with this information so that target applications always receive a complete, originally structured AGOV authentication token. Exception: if authorities explicitly disable this data enrichment for certain target applications (to date, there is no such case and no plausible use case).
AGOV does not provide machine identities. In cases of automation, the natural person must first log in and then start the automation, for example the AI agent.
When you connect your applications to AGOV, a separate e-ID connection is no longer required, as AGOV conveys the e-ID to your applications. Please complete the appropriate form at agov.ch/contact.
Further information
- Back to the Information for authorities.
- To the general Questions & answers.
- To the AGOV videos for authorities.