Your online ID
- The eAT (residence permit card), German ID card and the EU citizen eID card have an online ID function (Online-Ausweis). You need the 6-digit PIN (you get a 5-digit transport PIN by post, which you change in the app).
- Install the free AusweisApp (official app of the federal government). Your NFC-capable phone acts as the card reader.
- Forgot your PIN? Order a new PIN letter through the PIN reset service or at the Bürgeramt.
What you can do with it
- BundID (federal user account): central login for online government services.
- Change of address, certificate of good conduct, residents' parking, and in many cities some permit applications.
- ELSTER registration (faster than the postal activation letter).
- Kindergeld and Elterngeld applications, Rentenversicherung account, unemployment registration, health insurer apps (GesundheitsID for the ePA and e-prescriptions).
- Opening bank accounts in some banks.
Other identification methods
- VideoIdent: video call with your passport. Common for banks and SIM cards.
- PostIdent: in a post office or by video.
- eID via the bank app — more and more banks support it.
Security essentials
- Turn on two-factor authentication for email, banking and the ELSTER account.
- Never send scans of your passport or permit to unknown parties. When you must, watermark them ("Nur für Mietbewerbung bei X, Datum").
- Authorities and banks don't ask for passwords, PINs or TANs by phone, SMS or email.
- Report cybercrime to the online police station of your state. Check if your accounts were leaked at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut Identity Leak Checker (sec.hpi.de/ilc).