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ING Germany simplifies account opening process with video legitimation

10 September 2014 ... min read

ING seeks to make banking clear and easy for our customers. ING-DiBa in Germany is introducing video legitimation, allowing customers to identify themselves via video when opening an account.

Video legitimation

More convenience for new customers

Video legitimation is a pilot service and an alternative to the conventional identification method in Germany whereby the customer would need to visit a post office to identify themselves before being able to open an account.

Video identification is ideal for quickly legitimizing yourself from home, but it is also relief for those who are temporarily located abroad. Currently, some 500,000 new customers of ING-DiBa per year need to visit the post office for legitimation. ING Germany expects that in the future a substantial proportion of new customers will opt for the simplified video legitimacy.

A new reading of Germany’s money laundering law by the German Ministry of Finance in March 2014 has paved the road for this innovation.

How does video identification work?

After starting the video call, the customer will be asked to hold a valid identity card or passport in front of a webcam, tilting and moving the document to check for hologram and other security features. The process doesn’t take more than two to five minutes.

Currently, video legitimation is only offered to customers with a German identity card or passport. However, ING is planning to roll the service out to other countries in the future.

The video legitimation is ideal for quickly legitimizing from home, but it is also relief for those who are temporarily located abroad. Currently, some 500,000 new customers of ING Germany per year need to visit the post office for legitimation. ING Germany expects that in the future a substantial proportion of new customers will opt for the simplified video legitimation.

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