First Aruba, then Infocert. What will the other providers do? Today 39 million citizens use the Spid and the unknown is also the arrival of European IT-WALLET
Spid free goodbye. After Aruba, Infocert also introduces an annual fee for the release and maintenance of digital identity. From 28 July the service will no longer be free, but 5.98 euros will spend VAT included per year. A turning point that marks the end of years of gratuity (it was paid only for some types of identification for the first access) and opens questions about future of the spid In Italy, now used by over 39 million citizens. The decision arrives despite the release, in March, of the 40 million euros promised by the government to support the managers of the service. After the expiry of the agreements with the State in 2022, the managers continued to operate under the extension, free of charge. Now the state funds have arrived, but also the first canons for users.
For a fee infocert: a domino effect is coming among spid providers?
Infocert users will receive an official communication in the next few days: at the first deadline following July 28, 2025, to renew the SPID it will be necessary to give explicit consent to the payment of the fee. No automatic charge, but the non -acceptance will result in the deactivation of the service. For new users, the first year will be free, regardless of the method of activation chosen. Those who want to avoid the fee can cancel their digital identity with infocert at any time, via PEC or registered letter. Or it can activate a new one with another manager who, at least for now, continues to offer the service for free. The decision follows that of Aruba, which has introduced a similar cost in recent months, before unlocking public funds. Now the question is: what will the other providers do? What will Posaid do, which today manages over 70% of digital identities? Will Spid go to be a free public service to be a commercial product?
SPID for a fee and it-wallets coming
On the future of the Spid also weighs the shadow of the IT-WALLET, the European digital portfolio that should include documents such as identity card, health card, driving license and public certificates. Italy, among the pilot countries of the European project, provides for the integration of IT-WALLET with the electronic identity card (CIE), with the aim of gradually replacing the SpID. The European digital portfolio will be accessible via smartphone app and should guarantee greater interoperability at European level, advanced safety standards and more direct control by the state. However, at the moment it is not yet clear whether and when it will become the only official tool for digital identity in Italy. The transition to paid Spid could accelerate this transition. But the times are not immediate, and up to that moment millions of users will have to choose whether to stay with the Spid, accepting the new costs, or seek alternative solutions.
