01.11.2021

Author: Peter Amrhyn

Video identification

What is the video identification method? When do you use video identification? What are the advantages, and how does video identification work?

Advantages of video identification

Flexibility

You alone decide when and where to perform the video identification verification. Using a laptop, smartphone, or tablet, you can carry out video identification conveniently at home or on the road.

Efficiency

Online video identification with an agent usually takes about 10 minutes.

Security

During video identification, only the personal data is gathered that is required by a partner application according to regulatory and legal requirements to confirm your identity for electronic signature. The data is passed on in a secure and encrypted form.

Disadvantages of video identification

No 24/7 availability

Although video identification is available during rush and off-peak hours, a user is bound to the opening hours when video agents are available.

Varying waiting times

Depending on the quality of the internet connection, the available technical hardware (laptop or smartphone with webcam), or the workload of the available video agents for identity verification, the waiting times for the user may vary.

Video language limited

The correspondence language of the video agents during online identity verification is limited to a small pool of languages. For users whose correspondence language is not supported by the video identification provider, it may lead to comprehension problems with the agent during identity verification.

How video identification works

Process and duration of the video identification

As a customer, you will receive a link from one of our partners which will redirect you to the portal of the identification provider so that you can start the video identification and identify and register for the electronic signature.
After agreeing to the privacy policy, you will be asked to take a photo of the front and back of your valid identification document (identity card or passport).
Now the connection to a video agent is established who will verify your identity. In the video call, the agent verifies the security features by giving you instructions on how to move your ID document in the webcam. This allows the agent to confirm your "liveness" and rule out a "fake video".
To confirm your captured identity data by the agent, you will receive an SMS from the identification provider, which you enter in the mask during the video call.
After the successful video identification, you will receive another SMS with a link to the terms of use of Swisscom Trust Services so that you can use the signing service and the electronic signature directly.

The entire video identification process takes about 10.

Prerequisite for successful video identification

For successful video identification, you need a valid identification document, either identity card or passport. Furthermore, you as a customer need a certain basic technical equipment. This includes:

A computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone with microphone and webcam. The webcam can either be integrated in the device or connected externally
A good and stable internet connection
An updated version of the internet browser or current mobile app version provided by the identification provider.

Use cases of video identification

Digital opening of a bank account

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According to the requirements of the Anti Money Laundering Act (AML), a person must be identified in order to open a banking account. In the past, the person wen directly to hi or her house bank. Today, various online and direct banks already offer video identification for their customers.

By integrating our Smart Registration Service into your application or banking and finance solution application, you can offer your end customers video identification and thus enable digital onboarding without media disruption.

Identification for electronic signature

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In certain industries, such as the financial or insurance sector, there are very high regulatory requirements, which means that contracts are often still signed on paper. In the meantime, you can apply the handwritten signature on paper in the digital space with the help of the qualified electronic signature (QES). Due to the steadily growing digitalization of contract processing in companies, the QES removes the final hurdle of a legally secure and unambiguous declaration of intent in such a process.

According to the legal requirements (e.g. EU Regulation eIDAS), a person must be identified once in order to use a QES. For this purpose, you can use video identification alongside other innovative online identification methods.

How secure is video identification?

Video identification is a secure way to verify identity data online. Providers of video identification services comply with regulatory and security standards and are regularly audited. One of these requirements includes that online communication between the person to be identified and the video agent via the browser must be encrypted throughout and the connection must be at least 2,048 bits. Data protection also plays a decisive role. For example, only data that is necessary for establishing the identity of a person and is based on a respective legal basis (e.g. Money Laundering Act, Bafin standards, FINMA regulations (in Switzerland), etc.) is collected or used during video identification.

In parallel, users of video identification are also required to ensure certain security measures on their end devices. In this way, the risk of data misuse or hacking attacks can be kept very low. The following measures can be taken by users for secure video identification of a person:

Sufficient virus protection on the end device (PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet)
Carrying out regular security or browser updates
General security precautions; e.g. the use of a secure password or device pins.