As of April 1 of this year, electronic services provided by the Latvija.lv state and local government portal (www.latvija.lv) will also be available to clients of the DNB.  Users of the bank’s Internet Banking will be able to obtain extensive information from state registers and to access various state and local government E-services conveniently and at no charge to themselves.

The deputy head for electronic governance issues of Latvia’s Regional Development Agency (VRAA), Vita Narnicka, welcomes the partnership with commercial banks:  “When DNB clients enter the Latvija.lv portal, they’ll be able to receive various information, declare their place of residence, and monitor information about themselves in various state registers.  Latvija.lv services will allow people to save time and money, and we hope that people will increasingly use the advantages which the portal offers.  Last year the number of requests for services filed via the portal increased by 107%, which suggests that people are more and more interested in handling their everyday formalities with the system of governance in an electronic way.”

The Latvija.lv portal at this time offers 44 different E-services – declaring a place of residence, receiving information about one’s predicted pension, information about personal data in the Population Register, etc.  The portal is the most extensive and convenient Internet source when it comes to services rendered by state and local government institutions in Latvia.  There is also information about the many different services which institutions of governance provide at the national and local level – 1,940 in all.  These can be received in a catalogue or in terms of specific subjects such as one’s place of residence, finances, social services, education, commercial operations, national procurement, tourism, etc.

“The DNB Internet Banking has been set up primarily so that our clients can handle banking operations in a convenient and simple way, as well as to receive as much information as possible about the bank’s services,” says Inga Gailīte, deputy head of the bank’s Electronic Products Department.  “We welcome the fact that the Internet Banking will also allow clients to access a larger data and information base.  The E-service portal will allow our clients to identify the state or local government services which are needed at the individual level or to engage in business.  They’ll be able to learn about the terms which relate to the provision of various services, and it the services are available electronically, users will be able to request and receive them online.”

The E-services are already available to Mobile ID users, holders of E-signature smartcards from the Latvian Postal Service, as well as users of a few other Internet Banking systems.