Free for users: Federal government brings back PIN reset service
Many citizens have misplaced their e-ID PIN. A reset service financed by taxpayers is soon to help again – also because of the EUDI Wallet.
This is what the website of the PIN reset service looked like until its suspension at the end of 2023.
(Image: heise medien)
The PIN reset service for the electronic ID card is returning. The Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS) is financing the re-provision of the service, which is free for users, “on an interim basis.” A ministry spokesperson announced this in response to an inquiry from c’t. “The service is scheduled to go live in the second half of 2026, particularly to accompany the launch of the German EUDI Wallet,” the spokesperson added.
With the PIN reset service, users of the electronic ID card can obtain a new PIN or activate the online ID function without having to visit a citizens' office. They order a letter with a new PIN and an activation code online using their physical ID card. The letter is delivered via the Postident procedure. The postal worker thus checks at the handover whether the recipient is the ID card holder.
Forgotten or lost PINs are considered one of the biggest obstacles to using the online ID. According to a recent Bitkom survey, 21 percent of citizens have had the online function activated but do not know their PIN. 57 percent have not activated the online function, according to their statements.
High interest, but often futile dispatch
The federal government first introduced the PIN reset service in February 2022. According to the commissioned service provider, Bundesdruckerei, it was used significantly more than expected. At the end of 2023, the federal government surprisingly discontinued the service, citing costs: “The suspension of the PIN reset and activation service (PRSD) at the end of 2023 was necessary considering the foreseeable limited budget funds in 2024,” the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) later wrote in response to an inquiry from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
In total, almost two million PIN letters were sent out in just under two years. The BMI put the costs at almost 30 million euros. The average financial burden for the taxpayer was 14.29 euros gross per letter. “Around 40 percent of the letters sent were delivered but not used to (re)activate the online ID in a timely manner,” the federal government also explained at the time.
Fee-based service never launched
In 2025, the BMI intended to create the legal basis for a fee-based PIN reset service with a regulation: users were to pay a fee of 14 euros. However, the Bundesrat stopped this plan to prevent users from having to go exclusively to citizens' offices, where PIN changes are free: “To avoid such a negative steering effect and to promote digitalization, free use of the PRSD financed by federal funds is necessary.”
Important for the Wallet
According to experts, the PIN reset service is also important for the success of the EUDI Wallet. Users of the wallet app, which is scheduled to launch in Germany in early January 2027, will need to know their e-ID PIN to transfer their ID data to the wallet. “The PIN reset service is a prerequisite for more people to be able to use the online ID function more quickly and thus find their way into the EUDI Wallet,” Torsten Lodderstedt, Lead Architect of the German EUDI Wallet project at the SPRIND agency, told c’t.
The BMDS is also examining, according to its statements, how a fully digital PIN reset service without a physical letter can be implemented. “For the fully digital process, the challenge lies in identification at the 'high' security level according to the eIDAS regulation,” said the BMDS spokesperson. Thus, another, particularly secure digital identification option in addition to the e-ID itself is necessary.
(cwo)
