[kartan]

Same in Spain and Sweden when it comes to fiscal Id. Really useful.

But the number is not enough to buy anything or open a bank account. For that you need the physical id card that is as hard as forge as passports.

A very good system to make contracts, paying taxes, school registration, etc easy without allowing false impersonation.

[piaste]

Sweden's personnummer system is much more elegant - your code is your date of birth followed by a 4-digit unique identifier.

Everybody knows their personnummer by heart, while in Italy most people carry their health card around with the 16-character codice fiscale.

[ivanhoe]

Well in Croatia OIB is a random 11 digit number, but still most people I know managed to memorize theirs, especially if you're an entrepreneur running a business and have to fill it all the time.

[jaclaz]

>Everybody knows their personnummer by heart, while in Italy most people carry their health card around with the 16-character codice fiscale.

Cannot say about Sweden, but most people I know in Italy also know by heart their Codice Fiscale (whether they carry with them nonetheless the card is another thing).

[piaste]

I know mine by heart and I still get mildly surprised reactions every now and then when I give it to an office worker.

[aianus]

How do you use this physical ID card online? Or phrased otherwise, how do you apply for a credit card or similar online?

[kartan]

> How do you use this physical ID card online?

You don't. For that, you can get a digital signature. You can go to a police station, or to an embassy and present your physical Id card to get a digital signature. You can use that signature to sign contracts or your tax returns.

> how do you apply for a credit card or similar online?

In Spain, with your usual bank, you use your login/password and your 2FA.

In Sweden, you can use Bank-Id almost everywhere to identify yourself. It is also a digital signature, but it has brother use.