Business is booming for RealMe. There's currently about 130,000 Kiwis signed up.

The way we identify ourselves is changing as technology attempts to replace paper and make our lives easier.

The move to digital identities is complicated with concerns over security, exclusion and getting agencies, companies and governments to co-operate.

Having a digital identity is appealing. Fingerprints, retina scans, PIN numbers and government-backed identification logins are slowly replacing paper IDs.

READ MORE: Is Google better than normal ID?

But don't throw out your passport just yet. We are a long way from that, with the focus in New Zealand more about making services easier to access online.

The government's main focus in this area is RealMe which works as a single online ID for Kiwis.

It means you don't need a login for each government department, but instead you use one account to access services along with some run by private companies such as banks.

For example, you can use your RealMe account at the Electoral Commission to enrol to vote, with StudyLink to apply for a student loan, or with the Depart of Internal Affairs to renew your passport.

Imagine having to remember a login and password for each of those?

The woman overseeing RealMe describes it as a "digital passport".

Maria Robertson is the deputy chief executive of the Department of Internal Affair's service delivery and operations group, and she uses this term as she says RealMe has "passport strength" security.

"More and more people want a RealMe account and I think that's a reflection of people wanting to be sure about what they're doing online and who they are dealing with," she said.

There is no plan to have a finished product or service, but instead to adapt and improve depending on demand and conditions.

An example of this is banks. Several years ago you were able to access your account on a website by using several security steps including entering numbers from a coded card.

Now, you can use your fingerprint scanner on your smartphone to access your account and transfer money on-the-go.

"You start with something narrow and allow it to evolve over time as you learn more and as more things are able to be done digitally," said Robertson.

Business is booming for RealMe. About 5000 people a week are signing up - an improvement over when it launched in 2012 when it took nine months to issue the first 10,000 accounts.

There's currently about 130,000 Kiwis signed up.

However, this is not a national ID like some countries are issuing. Estonia has compulsory electronic ID cards that can be used in health care, banking, shopping and voting.

That scheme has been praised for its security and ease of use, and it could provide a blueprint for other countries to follow.

In New Zealand, Robertson said she has doubts over one universal ID as people want separate accounts for things like social media, banking and government interactions.

She said their focus was on providing an ID service to help people get access to services.

"The more we make it easier for people to access their own information and data, the easier it will be to access the services they need."

Services such as RealMe may also face some competition from tech companies like Facebook and Google which are all trying to make their accounts a form of ID. However, these are issued without verification.

It's the verification that is a key part of RealMe. You have to go through a stringent process (similar to what you do to get a passport) to get your account which gives comfort to both users and providers.

Robertson also said Kiwis rate security and privacy over convenience.

"If I want to share my kids' health records with someone, I'm not going to use my Facebook account to get access to that."

She said there had been no security breaches with RealMe, and it does not take information from other agencies.

"There's no big data warehouse where everyone's information is sitting."

The concept and processes of online identification are constantly evolving.

For now, New Zealand is working on its own project but one day there could be a global service, which could also mean the end of paper passports.