Use of Katso service will be discontinued – users must move to Suomi.fi service

The use of the Katso service will be discontinued on 31 December 2020. The Katso service will be replaced by Suomi.fi e-Identification and Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. Now is a good time to set up Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, as it will enable the use the services of Kela, the Finnish Tax Administration, the Incomes Register and other authorities also after the Katso service has been discontinued.

In January 2021, it will no longer be possible to use the Katso ID for identification and the roles and authorisations in the Katso service will no longer be valid. The authorisations currently in the Katso service will not be transferred to the new service. They must be created again in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.

In future, personal tokens such as online banking codes, a mobile certificate, an ID card issued by the police or a smart card issued by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency will be required for logging into the e-services. Users of Suomi.fi e-Authorizations will not need any separate identifiers.

Persons with the right to represent foreign companies must replace Katso identification with the Finnish Authenticator application. 

Companies can start to use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations on their own initiative

Private individuals as well as companies and organisations for which the signatories can be determined from the Trade Register and the Register of Associations can start to use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations on their own initiative straight away.

Suomi.fi e-Authorizations can be commissioned at suomi.fi/e-authorizations.

Other organisations can use the mandate service provided by officials 

The mandate service provided by officials enables parties whose representation rights cannot be found in the Trade Register or the Register of Associations to grant electronic authorisations and act on behalf of another party.

Parties that need the mandate service provided by officials include business partnerships, educational institutions, parishes, public organisations and foreign companies. 

The registration of the mandate begins by sending a mandate application and its appendices to the mandate service provided by officials.

• A right to grant a mandate or a representative’s right to grant a mandate will be registered on application to the person entitled to represent the organisation or to an individual authorised by that person. A person given a right to grant a mandate can grant mandates independently in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
• A person given a representative's right to grant a mandate can in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations independently grant a company or organisation a mandate to represent the person, company or organisation that authorised him or her and request mandate for transactions from other companies, organisation and persons to manage the affairs of the assignor.

Links:

The website of the Katso service  
How to grant a mandate for the management of tax matters in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations 
Replacing Katso in the Incomes Register

What is the Katso service?

The Katso organisation identification and authorisation management is an identification method created for companies and organisations for identification in the electronic services of the authorities (yritys.tunnistus.fi). The Katso service will be discontinued on 31 December 2020 and it will be replaced by Suomi.fi e-Identification and Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.

In January 2021, it will no longer be possible to use the Katso ID for identification and the roles and authorisations in the Katso service will no longer be valid.

What is Suomi.fi e-Authorizations?

Suomi.fi e-Authorizations is an electronic authorisation self-service in which companies and organisations can authorise a person, a company or an organisation to act on their behalf. 

What is a mandate in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations?

A mandate in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations is an electronic power of attorney, the details of which are entered in the authorisation register. When a person wants to act on behalf of another party in a service that uses Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, the person’s eligibility to do so will be checked from the authorisation register in real time.

What is the mandate service provided by officials?

The mandate service provided by officials is intended for parties that cannot initiate the granting of electronic authorisations independently. 

In the mandate service provided by officials, an organisation applies for the right to grant a mandate or the representative’s right to grant a mandate for the member of the organisation who manages authorisations in the organisation. The official registers the mandate on the basis of an application.

The person who has been given the right to grant a mandate will be able to independently grant mandates to other persons or organisations acting on behalf of the organisation in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. A person given a representative's right to grant a mandate can in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations independently grant a company or organisation a mandate to represent the person, company or organisation that authorised him or her and request mandates for transactions from other companies, organisation and persons to manage the affairs of the assignor.

What is the Finnish Authenticator app?

Identification with the Finnish Authenticator is intended for foreign persons who represent a foreign company or organisation and do not have a Finnish electronic token.

The application can be used to log into those Finnish public administration e-services that have implemented the Finnish Authenticator Identification Service. To be able to use the different e-services, the person representing a foreign company must also apply for the required mandates in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.