Businesses registered in Latvia can now open a Citadele account remotely in an average of 20 minutes, at any time of the day or night, with no video calls or visits to a bank branch.
To qualify for remote account opening, the business must be registered in Latvia and represented by someone with unilateral signatory authority using a qualified electronic signature (SmartID QES, eParaksts eID and eParaksts mobile) to identify themselves and sign the application. If the business owner complies with all the above criteria, opening an account takes up to 20 minutes, and they can then access their account and make payments through online banking right away while they wait for their bank card to be sent by mail. To open an account completely digitally, the company’s monthly turnover must not exceed €30,000.
“Time is an important resource, and businesses highly value the digital availability of banking services at a time and place convenient to them. Citadele’s aim is to bolster business owners by giving them all the digital tools they need, allowing them to save time and concentrate on developing their business. We have created a digital ecosystem where small and medium businesses can become our customers remotely and receive all the e-commerce tools they need, as well as, if needed, pick up an Instant POS terminal straight away from a branch. This means that both new and existing businesses can begin their digital journey in a matter of hours and start serving customers. In our test period, more than 100 businesses have already made use of the opportunity to open an account remotely,” explains Citadele Board Member Vladislavs Mironovs.
Fast communication is the most important requirement for a successful collaboration with a bank or other business partner, according to 69% of local business owners in a recent survey by Norstat. 62% of respondents also added that it was extremely important to be able to receive financial and other services remotely, saving time.
You can read more about remote account opening for businesses on the Citadele website.
516 Latvian businesses were surveyed by Norstat this spring on their use of digital services.