New SingPass Mobile app facing technical trouble

Several people were left frustrated after encountering problems while trying to register the SingPass Mobile application that was launched yesterday.

While users could download the app, a number of them received error messages when trying to register it on their mobile devices.

SingPass Mobile, which has the latest biometric features, allows users to access e-government services by scanning their fingerprints or faces on mobile devices, doing away with the need to remember passwords.

Mr Zachary Kong, 31, an investment professional, said he tried to register several times in the morning. But after logging into SingPass with his username, password and a one-time password (OTP), he was redirected to an error page and told to try again or contact the SingPass helpdesk.

He said: "I tried many times, same outcome."

Mr Kong, who finally succeeded in registering at 2pm, told The New Paper: "The experience could have been better. Imagine if a non-tech-savvy person tried this out. It could discourage the take-up rate of SingPass Mobile."

[[nid:428526]]

Mr Kong added that he had sent an e-mail to report the error, but had not received a reply as of 6pm.

A TNP reporter also received the error message when trying to register between 2pm and 7pm. After finally registering at 8pm, he could not log in to a number of e-government services.

The Government Technology Agency (GovTech), which developed the app with other agencies, posted a notice on its Facebook page at 3pm to ask affected users to e-mail its helpdesk with their phone details to help troubleshoot the problem.

Mr Siddharth Deshpande, research director at Gartner, an IT research organisation, said such issues are not uncommon when new apps are rolled out.

He said: "With a launch on such a large scale, we could be more forgiving."

Given the use of fingerprint identification, there could be possible challenges such as software compatibility, he added.

"It's about how they handle it afterwards, and if they are able to identify the users, communicate with them effectively and resolve the issue, then the outcome will be a positive perception," Mr Deshpande said.

Notwithstanding the teething problems, the SingPass Mobile app, which is part of Singapore's Smart Nation initiative, is aimed at enhancing security and convenience for the 3.3 million SingPass users.

Biometric scanning is more secure than passwords, which can be vulnerable if they are easy to guess and hard to remember if too difficult.

GovTech chief executive Kok Ping Soon said: "Every month, we receive about 150,000 requests from SingPass users to reset their passwords.

"The new SingPass Mobile app will offer a more convenient log-in option, as users no longer need to enter their passwords to log in."

But users still have the option to log in to e-government services with a SingPass username, password and OTP.

The app is a key step towards a single, trusted national digital identity framework that allows users to securely access public and private sector e-services for such uses as secure digital signing of confidential business and legal documents.

Users can also scan a QR code within the app when going for appointments in hospitals or entering secured buildings.

The framework is administered by GovTech subsidiary Assurity Trusted Solutions, which acts like a trusted notary to issue digital certificates to SingPass Mobile users to let the parties involved in the transaction know who the valid users are and what their digital signatures look like.

The app boasts such security measures as shutting itself down when it detects a security breach or malicious software on the user's mobile device. 

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.