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Fintech Market Overview

This article does not constitute legal advice.

Client identification in Russia

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Great advances in the creation of digital identities for individuals and companies have been promoted by the Russian government in recent years. The first step was to restructure public services and make them available through the Internet. To this end, a platform was built to manage identities. This is how the USIA, System of Identification and Authentication, was born in 2010. USIA granted access to the Gosuslugi, the digital platform of public services.1

USIA has transcended the boundaries of public services. Its effectiveness in terms of identification has made its use by financial services popular. Thanks to it, these financial institutions that need to identify their customers to fulfil anti-money laundering or know-your-customer (KYC) laws no longer need to perform such a process face-to-face. Instead, USIA provides them with a reliable alternative. We find this procedure effective in transactions that require full digital integration. It is particularly useful in the approval process for consumer (micro) lending, brokerage, securities trust management, and some other financial services, providing complete digital integration.1

The Unified Biometric System (UBS), which enables biometric identification of customers, has been operating in Russia for 5 years. To make the procedure effective, customers require visiting the associated bank. Then, they access financial products online using their biometric profile. With UBS it is possible to open bank accounts, apply for loans and perform transactions in any of the Russian banks from the end of 2019. Effective January 1, 2021, there is legal authorization for banks, insurers, microfinance institutions, and stock market agents to check the legal identity of agents through the UBS or USIA. By the end of 2021, the UBS became the "state information system" in conjunction with other government digital platforms.2

Digital onboarding in Russia

Fintech in Russia

Fintech in other countries

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Russian Fintech Lawyers

Denis Polyakov

Denis Polyakov

Comprehensive legal services for businesses on corporate, tax law, cryptocurrency legislation, investment activities

Kristina Berkes

Kristina Berkes

Participation as a lawyer at investment venture funds, leading venture M&A deals in IT, supporting iGaming and business assets

Viacheslav Losev

Viacheslav Losev

Legal support for FinTech and Blockchain projects

Fintech investors from Russia

Bergtop

Bergtop

We invest between USD $50k - $250k in each early-stage company

Notes
  1. https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-financial-technology-law-review/russia
  2. http://www.cbr.ru/fintech/digital_biometric_id/credit/
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