Switzerland’s financial regulator will require banks, brokers and fintech firms to verify that applicants are physically present when opening accounts online with the national electronic identity (e-ID) or a qualified electronic signature. The revised rules take effect on November 1, 2026, adding another control to remote customer identification and anti-money-laundering checks.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said criminals may use forged documents to open accounts remotely or persuade victims to open accounts that are later used for illegal activity. In an April review of 19 institutions, eight did not have a dedicated digital-fraud policy. Liveness detection already applied to customers opening accounts using identity-document images; the revised rules extend it to applications using the national e-ID and qualified electronic signatures.
Public consultation expands liveness-check requirements
FINMA’s draft rules were open for consultation from December 16, 2025, to February 27, 2026. The draft did not initially require liveness checks for either national e-ID or qualified electronic-signature applications. Some respondents warned that artificial-intelligence tools could be used to fabricate identities and that deepfakes could increase the risk of identity theft. FINMA adopted that recommendation in the final version.
Swissquote Bank was one of 24 named respondents. The bank had 1.22 million customer accounts at the end of June 2026 and offers foreign exchange, contracts-for-difference trading and banking services. In a letter signed on February 26, Chief Executive Marc Bürki argued that measures to protect Switzerland’s banking system from fraud should not be limited to the minimum requirements set out in the circular.
Swissquote proposed checking the IBAN used for a customer’s first transfer against lists of accounts linked to fraud. It also suggested setting a minimum initial deposit above the price charged for “mule accounts” on the dark web. Another proposal was facial matching against existing customer records to identify cases in which one person uses multiple identities to open accounts. FINMA said the circular sets minimum standards and that institutions may apply additional controls based on their risk profile and business model, but it did not include Swissquote’s wording in the rules themselves.
PayPal, Twint and cards cannot replace a bank transfer
Customers identified online using copies of identity documents must still make a transfer from an account in their own name. The account must be held with a bank in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or an eligible jurisdiction that is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This transfer requirement can be waived if the financial institution can read the chip in a biometric identity document.
Some respondents proposed accepting funds sent by securities firms, card issuers, Twint, PayPal or crypto-asset service providers as an alternative. FINMA rejected the proposal, saying the supervisory and anti-money-laundering framework attached to a banking licence provides a stronger level of verification. The regulator also noted that not every financial institution confirms whether incoming funds genuinely originated with a bank. Transfers from, for example, an authorised payment institution in the United Kingdom or an electronic-money institution in Ireland would not meet the requirement.
FINMA also removed a proposed “reverse” bank-transfer arrangement from the final version. The Swiss Bankers Association had warned that applicants could pass the code used for identification to a third party, weakening the verification process.
National e-ID allowed online, but not for video identification
Switzerland’s national e-ID may replace a physical identity document in a standard online account-opening process, but it cannot be used for video identification. FINMA said the e-ID has no machine-readable zone or QR code and cannot be copied and archived, so it does not meet the requirements of the current video-identification process. The rules take effect on November 1 to align with the start date of the federal e-ID ordinance. Swiss voters approved the Electronic Identity Act in a referendum in September 2025.
Documents containing a QR code, including Swiss driving licences, may now be used on the same basis as documents with a machine-readable zone. Financial institutions may also verify a customer’s address digitally, including through geolocation. Respondents had previously warned that utility bills can be easily forged, while Swissquote said fraudsters use social-media profiles and leaked data to assemble false identities.
Institutions that open accounts using qualified electronic signatures must add address verification and liveness detection by November 1, 2027. Electronic identities issued under the European Union’s eIDAS regulation are not currently covered by the circular. FINMA said recognising those identities would require further technical and regulatory preparations at the international level.