Remote Identity Proofing Is Legit Only with NFC

In order to remotely onboard online, it’s necessary to read the chip of biometric identity documents and check the validity and authenticity of their certificates. Most online services only verify identity documents using image captures, but this is obviously easy to manipulate and should not be considered sufficiently secure: in other words, their customer due diligence is negligent.

This is the conclusion of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA: since 1 June 2021, they only allow remote onboarding with chip-based data from biometric identity documents.

As pioneers on this new form of remote identity proofing, we welcome their decision and expect many other regulators to follow through.