Opening a bank accounts from the comfort of your own home soon will be an option in Portugal as the Bank of Portugal is working with the industry to enable banks to provide totally digital facilities.
More and more financial institutions encourage their customers to use online services but opening an account from scratch has not been possible.
Much of the information demanded by banks when setting up a new customer already can be supplied digitally, such as the basic filling out of forms and supplying account holder identification, but the holy grail of totally online account application has not be available to Portugal’s banks.
Currently, the applicant has to visit a branch to prove valid identification by submitting original documents or certified copies.
According to industry sources, the Bank of Portugal is working with banks to certify the methods of confirming the applicant’s identity so that banks can open accounts online.
The use of an electronic signature, the use of biometric data and a videoconference facility for digital identification and authentication are being worked on with a launch date of ‘later this year.’
Preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorist networks have been cited as reasons to make account applications as thorough as possible but in a bank of Portugal report released in May this year, the Bank of Portugal summarises survey results in which Portugal’s banks say they want to offer more services online and that it’s regulation that is holding them back.
Portugal’s banks know this is the way forward as they cut costs and close branches while developing online banking facilities, eying with jealousy those foreign banks operating in Portugal that can open an account for a new customer without demanding a branch visit.
German bank, N26, has authorisation from the Bank of Portugal to operate here and enables new customers to open an account in just eight minutes, assuming all documentation is digitalised and at hand.
