New Zealand's digital identification system, known as RealMe, has been given further validation by NZForex, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ASX listed OzForex Group.Launched last year, RealMe is a partnership between the New Zealand government and New Zealand Post. A spokeswoman for RealMe explained that, once a New Zealand citizen is on the company's system, each time they need to validate their identity they, in effect, give permission to RealMe to gather appropriate information from a range of sources to verify their identity or to validate a particular piece of information, such as an address.Part of the screening process involves individuals fronting up once to a post office with appropriate identification, such as a driver's licence, and having a photograph taken. They are then given a password and a second form of identification is used, such as confirmation to a mobile phone number.For NZForex, the RealMe process allows new customers wanting to send money overseas to avoid having to go through a physical identification processes, such as faxing in signed documents. However, it's not a way to bypass anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer rules.As Jim Vrondas, OzForex spokesman said, "[RealMe] doesn't fulfil all our KYC requirements, but it does allow us to electronically verify a person's identity, which negates the need for paper documents to be sent through by a client."We still need to speak to people to fulfil our KYC requirements but also to get a good understanding of what our clients need so we can provide a better payment solution."Broadly speaking, the RealMe model in New Zealand is comparable to the credit reference agencies in Australia in that it derives its income through "commercial arrangements" with organisations needing to verify identities of potential customers, while offering its services free to those customers.Unlike credit reference bureaus, however, RealMe is also aiming to support the "transformation in government" to provide more services digitally. For many of these transactions, such as benefits payments, a high level of confidence as to the identity of the people receiving services and payments is essential. Ultimately, the intention is for RealMe to support a much wider market than government services, with banks, education providers and utilities in its sights.Across the Tasman, RealMe is one of the systems the Australian government is looking at to move its e-government and digital economy policy along. This was confirmed earlier this year, when Prime Minister Tony Abbott jointly agreed with the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to investigate the "mutual recognition of trusted online identities", according to an OzForex briefing note.