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QES is Europe’s new standard for remote customer verification

Your verification flow has a shelf life. Video identification has long been the standard for remote verification, but that’s changing. From July 2027, the EU’s new AMLR makes Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) the preferred method.

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QES is Europe’s new standard for remote customer verification

Talk to our experts

Not all electronic signatures are the same

Most people have signed something digitally. Very few have signed with a Qualified Electronic Signature, and the difference matters enormously in regulated industries. Fourthline operates exclusively at the highest level of assurance: QES. The only signature type that is AMLR-compliant for remote customer verification.

When a customer ticks a box or types their name in a document, that is an electronic signature. It is quick and easy. It also tells you almost nothing about who actually did it, and if it is ever challenged, the burden of proof falls on you.

A Qualified Electronic Signature is different. Before one can be created, the person signing must have their identity verified to a legally defined standard - certified by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) that is regulated under EU law. The signature is then cryptographically bound to that verified identity. It cannot be forged, replicated, or credibly denied.

Under EU law, a QES carries the same legal weight as a handwritten signature in every member state. More importantly for regulated businesses: if someone disputes a QES, they bear the burden of proving it was not them. That reversal matters when you are dealing with loan agreements, account openings, and compliance obligations that need to stand up to regulatory scrutiny.

QES is also the only signature type that satisfies AMLR's preferred methods for remote customer verification from July 2027. It is not the only way to be compliant, but it is the most robust, the most future-proof, and when implemented well, the fastest and least friction-heavy for your customer.

SES: Simple Electronic Signature

A tick, typed name, or image. No identity check. No legal equivalence to a handwritten signature.

AES: Advanced Electronic Signature

Uniquely linked to the signer. Some identity verification, but not certified to a legal standard.

QES: Qualified Electronic Signature

Identity verified to the highest legal standard by a certified QTSP. Legally equivalent to a handwritten signature across the EU. Non-repudiable.

Remote customer verification in Europe has changed

Two regulations and a technical standard changed simultaneously: eIDAS 2.0, AMLR, and ETSI v2. Most companies are treating them as separate deadlines. They are not. They were designed to work together as one coordinated shift in how identity verification works across Europe.

IN FORCE NOW

✓ eIDAS 2.0

MAY 2024

The infrastructure is here. Every EU citizen will have access to a government-issued digital identity wallet and will be able to use it to create a QES. Identity liability shifts from businesses to governments when customers use official credentials. The system is already being deployed.

○ AMLR

JULY 10, 2027

One AML rulebook replaces 27 national frameworks. For remote customer verification, eIDAS-compliant methods (QES, notified eIDs, and the EUDI Wallet) become the preferred methods. Video identification is demoted to a fallback: still permitted, but only where preferred methods cannot be provided, and you must document why every time you use it.

○ ETSI v2

AUGUST 2027

Updated technical standards for QES identity proofing become mandatory. Providers must be certified against AI-powered attacks; deepfakes, injection attacks, presentation attacks. Only certified providers can deliver compliant QES after this date.

What most people miss

These are not three separate compliance updates. eIDAS 2.0 built the infrastructure. AMLR made it mandatory. ETSI v2 set the technical bar. They were designed as a system. Companies that read them as one shift will build once and be operating while others are still planning. Fourthline is certified under ETSI TS 119 461 v1 and progressing to v2 ahead of the 2027 deadline. We are managing that transition carefully, because when v2 becomes mandatory, it affects your customers' experience too.

QES is the new standard. Video identification becomes a last resort

Video identification put a human in the loop, but at a cost that is now impossible to justify. Customers wait up to 30 minutes to be connected to an available operator. When onboarding volumes spike, video identification does not scale. You cannot suddenly have 200% more operators available. From July 2027, video identification becomes a fallback, one you must justify every time you use it.

QES removes the customer wait, the queue, and the capacity ceiling. And with Fourthline, the human review is still there when you need it, and you decide how much, based on your risk appetite

Why QES is more fraud-resistant

Deepfakes convincing enough to fool video calls now exist commercially and are being used in fraud operations targeting onboarding flows across Europe. QES identity proofing must meet ETSI standards specifically designed to detect synthetic identities and AI-generated images. The deepfake that passes a video call cannot pass a QES identity check.

Why QES provides a better experience for your customer

A 30 minute wait to be connected to an operator is not the experience customers expect when opening an account in 2026. QES is fully digital, available at any hour, and completed in one uninterrupted flow. No waiting room, no booking screen, no business hours restriction. The customer is done before they have time to reconsider.

VIDEO ID

QES

Customer wait time

+30 mins

Instant

Works outside business hours

Yes

Works without a live operator

Yes

AMLR preferred method from 2027

Yes

Works without an eID or EUDI Wallet

Yes

Compliance liability sits with the business

Yes

Deepfake attack resistant

Yes

Cost per onboarded customer

€8–11

3–5× less

We removed the SMS code from the final step

Your customer has photographed their ID, completed a liveness check, and read the agreements. This is when most qualified signing flows send them an SMS code and wait. That's the worst possible place to introduce a dependency. The code doesn't arrive. They're roaming, or on a train, or the number on file is old. They switch apps to find it and don't come back. Every one of those is a customer you'd already paid to acquire, lost at the final step, and a support ticket on top.

Our QES flow does not require a SMS code. As a QTSP, we link authentication directly to the identity verification. The signature is bound to the check that just happened, not to a phone number.

One flow, start to finish

Verify, review, sign. No pause, no second device, no waiting.

No failed or delayed messages

No dependency on mobile signal or roaming

No SIM-swap exposure

No support tickets about codes that never came

No per-message cost at scale

Built for businesses where compliance and conversion both matter

Most QES providers were built for compliance teams. Ours was built for businesses where every drop-off has a real cost and every market has different requirements.

WHY FOURTHLINE

You set the risk level

You control how much of the identity check is AI-powered versus human-reviewed. A high-volume consumer product needs speed. A high-value customer needs more scrutiny. Same platform, same certified process, you adjust without rebuilding anything.

You set the risk level

No SMS code at signing

Most QES flows stop the customer at the final step to enter a code from their phone. We removed it and authentication links directly to the identity check instead. One uninterrupted flow, no reliance on mobile networks, nothing to lose the customer to at the last moment.

No SMS code at signing

Regulatory-grade identity checks built in

QES is only as strong as the identity check that precedes it. Ours is built to the standard required by BaFin, AMF, and the most demanding financial regulators in Europe.

Regulatory-grade identity checks built in

QES is only as strong as the identity check that precedes it. Ours is built to the standard required by BaFin, AMF, and the most demanding financial regulators in Europe.

ETSI TS 119 461 Certified

Our identity proofing meets the highest level of assurance and technical standard required to satisfy both AMLR and ETSI v2.

ETSI TS 119 461 Certified

Our identity proofing meets the highest level of assurance and technical standard required to satisfy both AMLR and ETSI v2.

Works across Europe, and EUDI Wallet-ready

One integration. Multiple EU markets. When government identity wallets roll out across member states from end-2026, they slot into the same flow. No rebuilding required.

Works across Europe, and EUDI Wallet-ready

One integration. Multiple EU markets. When government identity wallets roll out across member states from end-2026, they slot into the same flow. No rebuilding required.

We're the QTSP behind your signatures

Fourthline Trust Services AB is a Qualified Trust Service Provider supervised in Sweden. The identity check and the qualified certificate come from the same group, not from a partner you didn't choose.

What being a QTSP changes →

One integration for every AMLR-compliant verification flow

The most common question we hear: Can I combine ID verification, eID, and QES in a single flow?

Yes, and in most cases you will need to. AMLR requires regulated businesses to handle different customers with different credentials. Some will have a national eID. Some will use the EUDI Wallet when it arrives. Others will need a full identity verification and QES flow. Fourthline handles all of them in one integration.

QES is the foundation for AMLR compliance, but the right combination depends on your markets, your customer base, and your risk appetite.

The most common question we hear: Can I combine ID verification, eID, and QES in a single flow?

QES is the foundation for AMLR compliance, but the right combination depends on your markets, your customer base, and your risk appetite.

HOW IT WORKS IN PRACTICE

ID Verification + QES

Most common

The customer proves who they are and signs in a single journey. Full identity verification followed immediately by a qualified electronic signature. This is the core AMLR-compliant onboarding flow for customers without an existing eID.

Preferred method under AMLR Article 22

eID + QES

Growing fast

For customers who have a national eID or EUDI Wallet, the identity step uses their existing government-issued credential. QES is then issued on top. Faster for the customer, less friction, fully compliant. No additional integration needed when the EUDI Wallet arrives.

Works with EUDI Wallet

The institutions that set the standard in digital onboarding already chose us

The technical bar for QES is rising. ETSI v2 certification is mandatory from 2027 and most providers are not certified yet. Fourthline is. Beyond compliance, we give you control over where you sit on the compliance-conversion dial. Most providers fix that for you. Fourthline lets you set it, and change it as your business evolves. We replaced VideoIdent flows for clients across multiple EU markets. Onboarding costs dropped by 3 to 5 times. Capacity constraints that used to cap growth during volume spikes disappeared. The operations team stopped managing queues and started managing scale.

Europe's leading provider of a QES-powered onboarding flow, operating at scale across Germany, France, the Netherlands, and beyond.

Proprietary AI models and specialist human review within the same certified process. You set the risk threshold and adjust as your business changes

ISO 27001 certified. Enterprise security built in from the start.

ISO 27001 certified.

Enterprise security built in from the start.

ETSI TS 119 461 certified identity proofing. We meet the 2027 standard today.

3 to 5 times more cost-efficient than VideoIdent. No operator costs, no capacity ceiling, no 30 minute wait times. The savings compound as volume grows.

One integration covers the full lifecycle. Fourthline's full compliance stack; identity verification, AML screening, re-KYC, case review, sits on the same platform. You are not stitching together multiple vendors.

No OTP at signing. Most QES implementations interrupt the flow with an SMS confirmation screen. Fourthline removed it. The customer verifies their identity and signs in one uninterrupted journey and that is where our conversion advantage over other QES providers comes from.

ISO 27001 certified.

Enterprise security built in from the start.

See how QES fits your onboarding and your timeline

Whether you're replacing a video identification flow, preparing for AMLR 2027, or building something new, tell us your market and your current flow. We'll show you exactly what QES looks like for your customers.

Book a meeting with our team

See how QES fits your onboarding and your timeline

Book a meeting with our team