> Not sure what the alternative is.

In your country? I'm not sure either.

In general? Slovenian government allows authentication via

- TLS client certificates,

- three different third party identity providers,

- ID card via a card reader

- .. or via NFC through a smartphone, and

- SMS OTP.

People who don't or don't want to use a smartphone shouldn't be barred from online government services or forced into a costly and slow authentication scheme when there's numerous better options.