Chile is one of over 50 countries in the world who has implemented this type of system, which incorporates the highest security standards. By 2022, it is estimated that almost all citizens of its 18+ million population will have a secure identity card.

Chile's Civil Registry and Identification Service went live with its new national ID and passport infrastructure in September 2013, following a massive modernisation programme. Safran is in charge of the deployment, providing end-to-end secure ID management and document production.

One of the most advanced in the world, the Chilean eID card is based on a multi-biometric system comprised of an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and a Facial Recognition System, which uses state-of-the-art biometric technologies. In addition, the document validation process uses two-factor biometric authentication (fingerprints and face recognition). This adds greater accuracy and security, and avoids duplication of person's identity in the database.

"We have reached a symbolic milestone together with the Government of Chile, a flagship customer for Safran and pioneer in developing strong digital identities for its citizens. Chile has raised the bar in terms of identity protection in Latin America and has laid a solid foundation to develop e-services which will benefit all Chileans. We are proud to be a part of this digital transformation in managing civil identities." Commented Jessica Westerouen van Meeteren, EVP of Safran Identity & Security's Government Identity Solutions division.