How Fjord Bank Made Digital Onboarding More Accessible and Secure with Ondato
Fjord Bank is a Lithuania-based digital bank with Norwegian roots, headquartered in Vilnius. Active since 2021, the bank offers online consumer loans and term deposits, with a strong focus on making financial services simple, fast, and accessible without relying on physical branches. Fjord Bank combines digital convenience with competitive pricing and straightforward terms.
Since Fjord Bank is built around digital services, its customers need to be able to complete the entire journey online – from applying and verifying their identity to signing a contract.
Fjord Bank needed a way to make onboarding accessible to a broader range of customers without compromising on identity verification or fraud prevention. Ondato has supported Fjord Bank on that journey with video identification, an SMS signature tool for signing contracts, and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
This is the story about how Fjord Bank improved digital onboarding, fraud prevention, and AML compliance with Ondato’s solutions.
The Challenge
When Fjord Bank was preparing to launch, one of its first major challenges was simple in theory but critical in practice: how could customers without a qualified electronic signature complete the onboarding process and sign a contract?
The problem affected more than onboarding.
At the time of the bank’s launch, mobile signature was not yet widely used, and the electronic identification options available on the market did not cover everyone.
Fjord Bank could invest in attracting a prospective customer, only for that person to discover that they could not complete the application or sign an agreement because they did not have the required electronic signature solution. That created friction for customers, while also making marketing less efficient and potentially limiting sales.
The bank, therefore, needed an alternative that would allow customers without a qualified electronic signature to identify themselves and complete the contracting process remotely.
Moreover, Fjord Bank faced a fraud-prevention challenge. The bank needed a reliable way to perform an additional identity check when an application appeared suspicious and to gain greater confidence that both the customer and application were genuine.
At the same time, Fjord Bank was also looking to improve its AML processes. Its existing database was relatively expensive and was not updated as frequently as Fjord Bank wanted, so the team began searching for a better alternative for PEP screening.
The Selection
Fjord Bank’s need extended beyond finding a standard identity verification product. It needed a solution that could address a very specific gap in its digital customer journey.
Ondato offered video identification together with an SMS signature tool, which could help customers without a qualified electronic signature to verify themselves and sign their contracts remotely.
At the time, this combination was particularly important to Fjord Bank because few alternatives could provide the same complete journey. For Fjord Bank, this significantly widened the pool of customers it could serve.
Just as importantly, Ondato did not approach the project as a one-size-fits-all implementation. The team took the time to understand Fjord Bank’s business needs and adapt the solution to its processes and IT environment.
Flexible pricing, responsive service, and the ability to integrate quickly also played a role in the decision. Finally, Fjord Bank felt that Ondato approached the relationship as a partner.
Mantas Bielinskas, Head of IT Operations at Fjord Bank, described the selection process:
“Ondato clearly stood out because of its willingness to understand the challenges of our business, its commitment to supporting our growing bank, and its active involvement in finding and adapting the right solution.”
The Implementation
A good solution only creates value if teams can put it into practice.
According to Fjord Bank, Ondato’s team was closely involved in the implementation process.
“Clear documentation and proactive communication helped us get up to speed quickly, and we received a great deal of support during the testing process,” recollected Mantas Bielinskas.
That collaboration made it easier to meet the bank’s objectives and agreed timelines.
The experience across the technical, compliance, and operations teams was equally positive, with Fjord Bank describing the product integration as smooth and straightforward.
Once implemented, Ondato became part of several important areas of the bank’s operations: video identification for customer verification and additional fraud checks, the SMS signature tool for contract signing, and PEP screening as part of its AML processes.
The Results
Fjord Bank launched with Ondato’s video identification solution already in place, so the technology became part of its customer journey from the very beginning.
The impact of this addition is easiest to understand by considering the alternative.
Without video identification and SMS signing, Fjord Bank says it would have been able to accept fewer applications because customers without a qualified electronic signature could have been unable to complete onboarding.
Video identification also became one of the bank’s key tools for managing fraud risk.
For example, when Fjord Bank identifies a suspicious application, it can ask the applicant to complete video identification as an additional verification step. This helps the team assess whether the customer and application are genuine, reducing the likelihood of fraud and helping limit potential financial losses.
On the AML side, switching to Ondato improved the quality of PEP screening while making the process more efficient. More current, EU-focused data gives Fjord Bank greater confidence in its screening process and supports stronger risk management.
Together, the solutions have helped Fjord Bank create an onboarding process that is more accessible for legitimate customers while giving the bank stronger tools to identify and manage risk.
Future Plans
Fjord Bank continues to grow, which is why it is important to them that Ondato can keep pace with the increasing volume of IDV and AML checks and has the capacity to scale internationally if or when needed.
Naturally, that makes having a partner capable of supporting this growth increasingly important.
Fjord Bank sees Ondato continuing to play an important role, helping the bank maintain reliable identity verification, fraud prevention, and AML processes as its operations expand.
“Ondato provides high-quality services, so we are confident that it will be able to support our growing needs,”explained Julius Atidukraitis, CMO at Fjord Bank.
Partnership At a Glance
What began with the need to solve a specific onboarding problem has grown into a broader collaboration supporting Fjord Bank across customer identification, contract signing, fraud prevention, and AML screening.
For Fjord Bank, one of the key strengths of the relationship has been Ondato’s willingness to adapt: understanding the bank’s needs, finding practical solutions, and remaining closely involved from integration through day-to-day use.
“Ondato is a reliable partner with a flexible approach and high-quality services,” concluded Julius Atidukraitis.
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If your business is navigating similar challenges around identity verification, anti-money laundering screening, age verification, or compliance at scale, Ondato can help.
Get in touch to explore how we can support your growth while keeping your users safe.
