Simplifying Denmark KYC and identity verification

Denmark is a digitally advanced country where every citizen has a CPR personal identity number. The CPR number allows a person to access bank accounts, health institutions, receive government letters, and sign documents and agreements through local services like NemID, NemID Signatur, CPR or MitID.

The same system came in handy when the COVID vaccination program began across Denmark. Not only was it easy to implement, but it was also simple for users to understand as the process was familiar and already streamlined.
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If you’re a business that wants to onboard Danish clients or companies, keep reading to learn how to leverage the national identity verification scheme or verify data using other local sources.

Denmark Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations

In Denmark, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws are under the Money Laundering Act, which implements the EU’s 4AMLD and 5AMLD. The Danish regulatory agencies include the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), and the Danish Business Authority.

All obliged businesses need to perform customer due diligence procedures on their customers. The information requirements include:

• Name
• Address
• Social Security number
• Passport
• Driving license
• Birth certificate

Using a prospect’s assigned CPR (Social Security) number makes onboarding Danish clients far more accessible and innovative than traditional methods. Pulling data from a vetted, local database using a prospect’s CPR number can instantly fill the form with the relevant data. The benefits of automated information filling for all essential particulars is hugely advantageous when lengthy or repetitive forms are involved, saving a vast amount of time.
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Verifying the data with other external sources provides greater security for your Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, ensuring that all information is accurate.
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When it comes to personal onboarding, using NemID and CPR to verify one’s personal information like name, address, date of birth and citizenship leverages two-factor authentication (2FA), providing the utmost security. NemID also has an eSignature feature, allowing all onboarding practices to be digital. This 2FA works by simply logging in with NemID credentials, and when verified, they can digitally sign any document, keeping the onboarding process entirely online.
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Approximately 4.7 million Danish citizens use NemID, accounting for more than 55 million transactions monthly.

Corporate onboarding made easier in Denmark

Similarly, if you are an obliged business, you need to perform Know Your Business (KYB) procedures, including:

• KYC on natural persons associated with the business
• KYC on beneficial owners
• Clarification of a legal person’s ownership and control structure
• Purpose of the business relationship

This information needs ongoing updating based on a risk-based assessment.

The Danish government has implemented the same verification processes used in personal onboarding regarding businesses. All Danish companies require a CVR number, their unique business identity number they get from the Danish Central Business Register.

You can pull the data from the local government database using the company registration CVR number and automatically fill the form with relevant data, including the names of individuals or the company’s address.
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You can also match information using a business’s CVR against data from other databases for greater accuracy. There are numerous ways to use these services in corporate onboarding, including verifying businesses quickly and securely. Business Verification is beneficial as corporate onboarding is notorious for taking several months to finalize, whereas this process can shave it down to just days without sacrificing compliance.
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With Trulioo, you can access Denmark’s digital identity systems and local and international databases to make onboarding more straightforward. Ease clients’ access to your services, save time and ensure you are compliant with Denmark AML/KYC requirements with a comprehensive identity verification solution.