Czech Post Electronic Signature Services Go Live Using Cybertrust Application as Foundation
Cybertrust(R), the global information security specialist, today announced the successful implementation of electronic signature services by Czech Post, the Czech Republic's biggest postal service supplier. Czech Post is now one of only three accredited distributors of official digital certificates in the Czech Republic. The electronic signature services will be used by citizens of the Czech Republic to safely and securely handle tax declarations, pensions, insurance policies, legal and social security documents online.

Use of online services in the Czech Republic is on the increase and in some respects it is ahead of many Western countries. I've been using a Czech online bank long before this service was offered in the UK (since 1999). The problems online commerce faces in the Czech Republic is low penetration of credit cards (and unwillingness by many vendors to use them because of the costs) and the set up of the post office which many people do not trust. E.g. registered post is much more commonly used and concepts like 'leave the package with the neighbors' completely alien - having to go pick up most of your packages from the post office takes a lot of the convenience out of online shopping. That's why a Netflicks (US) or Lovefilm (UK)-like service has not yet taken hold in the CR. One thing that the Czech Republic has, though, is the common use of 'payment on delivery' and fairly efficient bank transfers. These are still common (and probably prevalent) methods of payment in the online world today. Unfortunately, all ventures attempting to introduce online micropayment have failed - and more recently are almost impossible to set up because of new banking regulations.

However, government services such as submitting tax returns by email or finding information online are definitely on the increase.