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France Launches Nationwide Smartphone Carte Vitale Without National e‑ID

Officials aim to boost adoption with payments to doctors to overcome early activation glitches.

Overview

  • From November 18, the dematerialised health card is available to all users through the Carte Vitale app as a digital alternative to the physical card.
  • Installation no longer requires France Identité, with activation involving a social security number check and a human‑reviewed facial recognition step.
  • Patients can present the app in consultations or at pharmacies, connecting by QR code or via NFC on compatible Android phones.
  • Provider uptake remains uneven, with about 65% of pharmacies and 24% of general practitioners having sent at least one bill using the digital card, with lower rates in Île‑de‑France.
  • Users report activation failures and hardware or connectivity constraints, while CNAM offers a €280 payment for a first teletransmitted bill this year, dropping to €140 next year, and about 1.8 million users had activated the service before the nationwide rollout.