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According to Margus Rink, the chair of the board of Coop Pank, changing to another bank has never been so fast and easy for private individuals in Estonia. “The solution we have launched today means that it will take one a couple of minutes to become a Coop Pank’s customer, and you can do it whenever you please,” Rink said.

Rink explained that what had prevented banks from implementing similar solutions before were the rules set forth by law, which demanded that a person be identified in a face-to-face setting or by videoconference in the process of opening an account.

“A law amendment which came into force at the end of last month made the requirements for the identification of resident individuals less strict on banks: as of today, authentication with the ID card or Mobiil-ID will be sufficient for daily banking operations. An option of opening a private individual’s account without extra effort will definitely have a positive effect on boosting competition in the banking sector,” Rink noted.

To open an account, the customer needs to go through authentication on Coop Pank’s web page by means of using their ID card or Mobiil-ID, fill in a customer data form, choose a service package and sign the contracts electronically. The customer will then immediately be granted access to Coop Pank’s online banking and mobile banking. If the customer has ordered and a bank card, Coop Pank will send it to their home address within a week.

The customers who have opted for the electronic account opening solution will be able to make payments limited to the amount of 15,000 euros per month (up to 10,000 through online banking and up to 5,000 in payments by card). If the customer would like the limit of transactions to be increased, it can be done by coming to one of Coop Pank’s 14 branch offices in person.

As far as legal entities are concerned, their representatives will still have to come to a branch office in person in order to open a bank account and sign the relevant contract.

Coop Pank is a universal bank based on Estonian capital, which aims to put the synergy generated by the interaction of retail business and banking to good use and to bring everyday banking services closer to people’s homes. Coop Pank has 14 branch offices all over Estonia, providing all types of services, daily transactions as well as loans and leasing options included. In addition, the bank is to open banking points of service in Coop stores all over the country.

Coop Pank’s debit cards can be used as loyalty cards, similarly to ‘Säästukaart’, in Coop stores (Konsum, A ja O, Maksimarket), providing the holder with a variety of current discounts. Having activated a Coop Pank’s service package, customers can withdraw cash from the ATMs of any other banks without paying a fee. Next spring, Coop Pank is planning to launch a solution which will allow its customers withdraw cash from the check-outs of all Coop stores.

Its subsidiaries counted in, Coop Pank provides approximately 200 jobs in its headquarters and in fourteen branch offices all over Estonia. Consolidating 19 associations, Coop Eesti has around 350 stores, 80,000 cooperative shareholders and 600,000 loyal customers.