TOKYO: Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed at the request of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to put Japan’s “My Number” identification card functions onto iPhones, Japan’s top government spokesperson said on Thursday.

The Japanese government plans to integrate people’s tax and social security data into a single identification card to boost administrative efficiency.

Apple plans to invest more than $250mn to expand Singapore campus

The comment from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi comes after Kishida’s video conference earlier in the day with Cook.

“Prime Minister Kishida and Mr. Tim Cook confirmed that My Number card functions will be put on iPhones next spring,” Hayashi told a regular news conference.