Renew your rafræn skilríki

The Útlendingur’s Ongoing Guide To Getting Shit Done

You know what I hate? Remembering passwords. I know, my trusty Apple products store all my login details safely in a keychain, but I still inevitably mange in too many cases to fuck that up and then the password saved in my keychain is incorrect, so I go through the process of resetting said password.

That’s why the rafræn skilríki, or electronic ID, system is so great. It lets us password averse individuals log in to all the important stuff like banking and government services, and confirm online payments with a push notification to our phones and a four-digit pin.

To be honest, it can be easy to forget just how important that little push and pin combination can be until you lazily let it run out. Sure, Auðkenni (the service provided powering the rafræn skilríki system) sends you two-week warning that your electronic ID is expiring. And yes, they’ll send you another warning a week later. But you may still put off taking the steps to renew, thinking it’s going to be a whole thing and ugh, you just can’t deal with it right now.

Let me tell you, fellow procrastinator, it’s not a whole thing. It’s stupidly easy.

You just have to go in to your bank branch or the main hub of your mobile provider and say “hey, I need to renew my electronic ID.” Some helpful individual will say, “cool, got some id?” You’ll present your ID, they’ll send a push notification to your phone prompting you to enter a four-digit pin, you’ll tap “Accept” about a dozen times as the renewal calibrates or something, and then you’re free to go on with you life, logging in with abandon and verifying so many online purchases your bank accounts will weep.