Costa Rica makes firms accept its digital ID from January 2027

Costa Rica makes firms accept its digital ID from January 2027

10 November 2026: From 1 January 2027, public and private institutions in Costa Rica must accept the Identidad Digital Costarricense, the digital identity issued by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), wherever they need to identify a person for a procedure or service. The tribunal says the digital identity has the same legal validity as the physical identity card, the cédula.

Not yet independently verified. This rests on El Financiero's report of the tribunal's statement; the tribunal's own site answered our requests with a human check. We have not read the legal instrument behind the rule. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

Mandatory to accept, optional to hold

The obligation falls on the organisation, not the citizen. Nobody has to get the digital identity, and the physical card remains valid. But a bank, telecom operator, insurer or public office that asks a customer to prove who they are will no longer be able to turn the digital version away.

The identity costs 2,600 colones and is valid for four years; older adults are exempt. It was launched on 9 September 2025, and 107,243 people had applied for it by 1 November 2026, according to El Financiero.

How a person gets one

Issuing is done online through the TSE's site. An applicant needs a valid cédula, a mobile device, an email address and a Visa or Mastercard card to pay, plus the IDC-Ciudadano app. The identity is protected by a PIN and by facial recognition, matched against the biometric records the tribunal already holds.

The TSE presents the change to businesses as a gain: faster and safer verification, fewer errors when documents are digitised by hand, and better protection against impersonation. Verification of the identity outside Costa Rica is described as a future step, not something available now.

What organisations have seven weeks to settle

For a business that onboards customers in person or remotely, the date turns a nice-to-have into a compliance question. Front-desk procedures that ask for the physical card need a documented way to accept the digital one, and remote onboarding and identity verification flows need to know how to check it.

The report does not say what technical means the TSE offers organisations to verify a digital identity, whether through an app, a code or an interface, nor what happens to an organisation that refuses one. Both are what a compliance team should ask the tribunal or its software vendor before January.

At 107,243 applicants in 14 months, the digital identity reaches a small share of Costa Rica's adults so far, so most customers will still arrive with the card in 2027.

Sources

• El Financiero (Costa Rica): digital identity card to be mandatory for acceptance, 10 November 2026, 10 November 2026