Azerbaijan eyes creating new payment service using e-signature capabilities

By Trend

Azerbaijan plans to create a new payment service using SIMA electronic signature capabilities, Member of the board of AzInTelecom under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Inara Valiyeva told Trend in an interview.

The growth in the number of digital services will have a positive impact on the development of Azerbaijan's digital economy, which is extremely important, she noted.

"The state policy of Azerbaijan, including the priority goals set by the Head of State until 2030, also makes the development of the digital economy relevant," Valiyeva said.

The SIMA project is a new generation digital signature and this project is aimed at preventing loss of time and additional costs, providing greater security when conducting transactions with a digital signature, she said.

The registration process in the SIMA e-signature mobile application is very simple. Even the smallest details are thought out to ensure the simplicity and security of creating an account, she added.

The SIMA project includes three important technologies, such as: face recognition, public key and cloud technologies. The SIMA project is based on biometric authentication, it works on the basis of face recognition, Valiyeva said.

The user needs to scan an identity card (the code at the bottom of the document, consisting of machine-readable characters) in order to register, she emphasized.

Next, the process of verifying the authenticity of the document and its belonging to the person undergoing registration takes place. This stage uses real-time biometric authentication based on face recognition through the front camera of the mobile device. The user receives a digital signature if the verification is successful, Valiyeva noted.

It is planned to create the possibility of using the signature through the website (web version) in order to further enhance the convenience and functionality of the application. The user will need to read the QR code from the corresponding website through the SIMA mobile application, Valiyeva added.

According to Valiyeva the users will be able to use the services of government agencies, banks, non-bank credit organizations, insurance companies, mobile operators, internet providers with the help of this electronic signature.

"It will be very easy to get the services of partners in the areas I have listed. When a user wants to use a service that requires an electronic signature, he will be able to access his personal account or sign documents by scanning a QR code posted on the service provider's website using the SIMA mobile application. All this is aimed at creating a more secure electronic signature, which saves time and costs," Valiyeva emphasized.

She also believes that the future level of development of countries and societies depends on the degree of digital transformation.

"I believe that in this context, SIMA is a product of the future and its implementation will accelerate and expand the process of digital transformation in Azerbaijan," Valiyeva said.