Fujitsu Helps Belfius Implement Secure Bank Account Opening from a Mobile Device with Sign’IT E-signature Solution

Fujitsu is supporting Belgian bank Belfius in its digital transformation with pioneering technology that enables banking customers to open a new account simply with a smartphone or tablet. By integrating the Sign’IT e-signature solution developed by Fujitsu and Namirial GmbH into the bank’s mobile app, Belfius is the first Belgian bank enabling new customers to electronically sign financial documents on their mobile.

Innovation has already earned Belfius first place for growth in mobile banking, worldwide, in independent benchmarks from McKinsey Finalta¹. Mobile banking services are proving popular among the bank’s 850,000-plus mobile customers, who each make an average of 25 connections per month. Belfius is gaining an average of 1,000 new mobile banking customers a day. Sign’IT - by simplifying the account creation process - is helping Belfius to gain also new customers via the mobile channel, hence accelerating the growth toward one million mobile users.

As well as making it possible for the first time for customers to open bank accounts from their mobile, Sign’IT is part of Belfius’ strategy to deliver an improved experience to its mobile customers. At the same time, it helps the bank to drive down operational costs, speed up processes and reduce paper consumption.

Cédric Jadoul, Application Services Portfolio Manager, Fujitsu Belgium, says: “Although handwritten signatures are still the most popular technique – and often a legal requirement in the financial industry – printing paper copies of documents just to sign them is a waste of environmental resources, time and money. The future of banking is largely digital and the signature process must reflect this. Electronic signatures are a highly secure way to validate documents and business agreements, almost impossible to fake, and very user friendly: Unlike passwords, a signature cannot be stolen or forgotten.”

Benoît Speybrouck, Head of Digital Projects Retail & Commercial Banking, Belfius, comments: “The Sign’IT solution is a key driver in our mission to set the benchmark in digital banking, and a first in Belgium. Fujitsu has enabled us to focus above all on regulatory aspects and the customer experience of opening a bank account digitally. Sign-up can be completed in five minutes from anywhere, without filling in any paperwork. Identification is carried out using real-time scanning, recognition and verification of a customer’s electronic ID card, and Fujitsu Sign’IT technology to confirm the customer’s signature on the smartphone screen.”

How Sign’IT works

Sign’IT works by capturing a handwritten signature on an electronic device, along with important identification information, such as how quickly the user moves the pen, pen angle, and how much pressure is applied to each segment of the signature. Together, these parameters form the unique fingerprint of the signatory’s highly-secure biometric signature, which is non-transferrable. Signature data is embedded into the bank account opening form, ensuring that it is authentic, non-reusable, and cannot later be altered.