Video-identification revolution at Dukascopy Bank

 

Following the issuance of the FINMA circular 2016/7 on Video-identification dated March 2016, Dukascopy Bank was eager to be among the first financial institutions to use an in-house developed video-based on-boarding system, fully integrated to its IT infrastructure.

 

Dukascopy Bank is delighted to announce that, from now on, opening an account and starting to trade at Dukascopy Bank can be done within 1 hour.

 

This is a tremendous breakthrough and improvement in client experience. Dukascopy Bank was often criticized on Internet forums because of its long and bureaucratic account opening process requiring 10 days in average and up to 1 month.

 

What makes the opening so much faster?

 

Now, Dukascopy Bank identifies clients in 15 minutes during a video session. Before, the only way was to obtain and to send by post mail a certified copy of Identity Document (ID), an archaic procedure in online times.

 

Moreover, from now on, clients execute Dukascopy contracts fully online, by few clicks. There is no more need to print, sign and send documents by post mail.

 

Once opened, the account can be funded instantly by credit card and used immediately.

 

Opening an account still and will continue to begin by filling online forms from Dukascopy's website. Optimizations will be made in this respect so as to further improve the client experience by swiftening and simplifying the account application process.

 

At the time being, our new swift and easy on-boarding is offered to physical persons opening an account in their name, the vast majority of our clients. Special cases such as joint or corporate accounts, still need to go through ID certification and paper contracts.

 

Depending on the workload of our Compliance team, client accounts may not be all opened within 1 hour but in any case the opening will be much faster, generally done same day as the client application.

 

Dukascopy Bank feels comfortable to speak to and to identify clients via video because it does so via its own communicator « Dukascopy Connect ». Since years, Dukascopy Bank develops and optimizes its communication tool supporting chat and video, in a free, secure and confidential environment.

 

Outsourcing always brings concerns about confidentiality. At Dukascopy Bank, we prefer that sensitive data remains on our servers in Switzerland. Moreover, we like to fully control technologies founding our competitive advantage.

 

« Dukascopy Connect » is also used by our subsidiary « Dukascopy Payments » to deliver instant and inexpensive payment services via smartphones, a new service to the attention of our international clientele.

 

Andrey Duka, co-CEO-CTO and founding shareholder of Dukascopy Bank comments as follows:

 

« Dukascopy Bank puts its video-identification technology at the disposal of all Swiss and foreign banks,completely for free.

 

We are very much grateful to the Swiss Bankers Association and to its members, in particular to Swissquote Bank, for their active support to our initiative started in December 2014 for obtaining a modernization of Swiss regulation regarding client on-boarding in Switzerland.

 

We also express our gratitude to the Press, in particular l'Agefi, Bilan, Finews.ch, Finanz und Wirtschaft for relaying our message.

 

Switzerland was suffering a serious competitive disadvantage in client on-boarding. FINMA has rapidly and wisely reacted by issuing a new regulation allowing Swiss financial institutions to increase swiftness and competitiveness, a smart move for the Swiss financial industry.

 

We congratulate all bankers for such a powerful regulation improvement.»