After the national identity card and the driving license, the State wishes to include the Vitale card in the France Identity application from the start of 2025. A delicate subject which should finally take shape after long years of waiting .
France Identity: CNI, license and now Vitale card
After having procrastinated on the subject for a long time, the government wishes to definitively conclude the project of the digital Vitale card. As indicated by the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier, the final option would be integration with the France Identity application, available to everyone on iPhone and Android since 2023. So no more biometric version or even merger with the identity card as was mentioned in the past.
The objective is announced, an official launch in the first quarter of 2025. As the integration system is still under construction, a postponement is nevertheless to be expected as is generally the case on this type of sensitive subject. Through this dematerialization, the government hopes in the years to come to fight more effectively against social fraud.
Is this really the right method?
The road ahead is no less endless. Once it is effective in the France Identity app, there will still be many problems to manage. First, the new generation identity card launched in 2021. Mandatory to create your digital profile on France Idêtes, it is far from being in all the wallets of French citizens. Only time can improve this point with the renewal of old, expired CNIs.
Second, the management of the necessary equipment for all pharmacies in France. They will all need to be equipped with a functional reader, which is completely absent today even though the Carte Vitale app is being tested in around twenty departments. An app still in beta, but set to disappear in view of the 2025 project.
Finally, last problem and not the least, the reluctance of the people. If this new way of using identity documents can quickly appeal to Generation Z and tech fans, it’s a different story for the rest of the population. Between people who don’t have confidence and those who don’t want to use their smartphone for this sort of thing at all, patience will be necessary.
It is a safe bet that the digital Vitale card will not be compulsory for at least fifteen or twenty years and even then… Which therefore means that the physical version will still be operational for at least the next two decades. Complicated to fight against social fraud with all this.
