In future, you could use your PayPal account to login to British government websites. Imagine using PayPal to check your benefits claim status, renew your passport or pay HMRC.
It’s not as bonkers as it seems at first: today, the Government Digital Service announced PayPal is now accredited by the UK Government and has been added to the Identity Assurance supplier framework. This means, potentially, that in future government departments could choose to utilise PayPal’s login system to access online public services.
PayPal is the eighth ID Assurance provider to be approved under the scheme. Other suppliers include the Post Office, credit agency Experian and Cassidian, a military supplier. The idea is to provide people with a variety of options to prove their identity to government departments, whilst keeping the cost to the taxpayer at a bare minimum.
The first initiative to the use Identity Assurance services will be Universal Credit, the new system to process benefits.
