Germany was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to allow video verification back in 2014. Amid demands for more convenient onboarding processes, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) passed a directive that year, which was updated in 2017 to further tighten process security. With digital onboarding rapidly becoming the norm, the German market has seen the emergence of a thriving electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) industry.
eKYC refers to the digitalization and online conception of KYC processes, and constitutes a critical step in the digital onboarding journey. In Germany, several startups operate in the field, with perhaps the most notable player being IDnow. Based in Munich, IDnow offers an identity-as-a-service platform that can verify in real time the identities of more than 7 billion people from 193 different countries. The startup’s patent-protected video identification and e-signing solutions are currently used by some of the world’s leading banks and fintechs including UBS, SolarisBank, Fidor Bank, N26, and Smava. KYC Spider is another prominent startup serving European markets, including Germany and Austria. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, KYC Spider provides a digital platform designed to fulfil customers’ anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions compliance requirements.