The Government Digital Server (GDS) has said it has finished connecting eight firms to its GOV.UK Verify programme.

Verify is the UK government scheme to enable people in the UK to prove who they are online. It will be used to enable people to access government services, such as tax and benefits, securely. Personal information is stored with an external organisation rather than centrally with government.

According to GOV.UK Verify’s service manager Stephen Dunn, the process marks “an important milestone” for the scheme, with a range of certified organisations for people to choose from as one of its objectives for going live.

“We’ve blogged about putting the new certified companies through a rigorous onboarding process so that we can be sure their solutions are secure, meet the standards and are well designed. The aim is to offer users a choice of companies that best meet their needs, as opposed to simply having a large number to pick from,” said Dunn in a blog post.

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“We’re excited to announce that we now have eight GOV.UK Verify certified companies, all operating under the new contractual framework. The companies are: Barclays, CitizenSafe, Digidentity, Experian, Post Office, Royal Mail, SecureIdentity and Verizon.

“These eight certified companies, and the variety of methods and data sources they bring, will continue to help GOV.UK Verify work for more people as we move towards live and beyond,” he added.

The next milestone, according to Dunn, is to get the certified companies going from beta to live later this month.