Mastercard is partnering with the Republic of North Macedonia to develop digital identity solutions that will give citizens of that country a new way of authentication when accessing government and business services. 

The partnership will develop digital identity solutions, including digital document signing and authentication that can be used for "know your customer" remote authentication, which will allow people to open bank accounts without entering a branch or for opening up new prepaid and postpaid mobile phone accounts. 

"Technology is changing our lives in ways we could only have dreamed of just years ago," Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber & intelligence at Mastercard, said in a company release. "The best solutions come by bringing together strong partners."

The partnership builds on recently created digital identity regulations in the country as well as European standards called eIDAS (electronic identification, authentication and trust services).