FINMA tightens online identity checks for Swiss banks and brokers

Switzerland's financial regulator FINMA has revised its circular on video and online identification, tightening how banks and brokers confirm that an applicant is a real, living person. According to Finance Magnates, which reported on the changes on 8 October 2026, the updated text takes effect on 1 November 2026.

What was announced

• Liveness detection, a test that a live person is physically behind the application, was already expected when a client onboards with a photographed ID. The revision extends it to onboarding with the new Swiss state e-ID and with qualified electronic signatures.
• Firms that onboard through qualified e-signatures have until 1 November 2027 to add the address check and the liveness step.
• Address verification may be done digitally, including through geolocation.
• When a client is identified online from an ID copy, the first payment must come from an account in the client's own name at a bank in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or a qualifying FATF member state. The requirement is waived if the chip of a biometric ID is read. The report says FINMA did not accept transfers from securities firms, card issuers, Twint, PayPal or crypto providers as a substitute.
• The e-ID can be used for online onboarding but not for video identification, and IDs that carry a QR code, such as the Swiss driving licence, are now treated like IDs with a machine-readable zone.

The report adds that the liveness step for the e-ID and e-signature routes was missing from the draft and was added after consultation respondents raised concerns about AI-generated forgeries and deepfake identity theft.

Why it matters for traders

Account opening is where a firm's fraud controls begin. Stricter checks can mean extra steps when you sign up with a Swiss-supervised provider, and the funding rules can decide which bank account is accepted for a first deposit. More broadly, the change shows regulators reacting to synthetic-identity fraud, which harms clients as well as firms.

What to check

• Which funding sources a broker accepts for the first deposit, and whether the account must be in your own name.
• Whether the firm explains its identity-verification process in its help pages.
• That any firm claiming Swiss supervision appears on the regulator's public registers.