Technology provider • Switzerland
Intrum is Switzerland’s leading credit management services company, serving sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, HR and automotive in efficiently managing credit, payments and debt collection as well as identity verification through IDnow’s products.
1994 founded
10,000 employees
250 customers (incl. T1 banks)
With IDnow since 2016
From debt collection to 360° onboarding: How Intrum accelerated go-to-market and became Switzerland’s no. 1
6 minutes read
Intrum teamed up with IDnow to turn its debt collection legacy into a digital-first onboarding experience. By combining identity verification, credit checks and compliance into one platform, Intrum now helps institutions launch new products and onboard customers faster than ever before.
The challenge
Building a digital identity verification capability
In 2016, Intrum recognised a major opportunity to expand its services in Switzerland beyond debt collection. Financial institutions in its network needed a secure, compliant and fully digital onboarding process, as most solutions were still manual and slow, and Intrum sought a partner capable of helping it build and scale that offering. The goal was to automate and digitise identity verification for Intrum's customers, reducing friction in the onboarding process while meeting the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority's (FINMA) regulatory requirements. Intrum needed a technology partner that could provide both the compliance expertise and technical flexibility required to introduce identity verification as a new business line, one that would help banks and service providers go live faster with new financial products.
“It would be absolutely fair to say our partnership with IDnow has transformed our entire value chain. We started as a debt collection company doing credit checks, but with IDnow's solutions, we've achieved incredible developments in digital identification.”
Thomas Hutter, Managing Director at Intrum
Partnership overview
Intrum partnered with IDnow as part of its transformation from a traditional debt collector into a comprehensive digital onboarding and credit management provider. Today, IDnow’s technology has become the cornerstone of Intrum’s Digital Trust Platform, which brings together credit checks, trusted services and identity verification in one ecosystem.
Why IDnow?
Intrum selected IDnow for its ability to combine technology depth with regulatory strength:
- Broad portfolio of identity verification products (from automated to agent-led), allowing Intrum and its customers to choose the right verification journey depending on risk appetite and compliance needs.
- Leadership in key sectors. IDnow’s presence across financial services, telecommunications and HR closely aligns with Intrum’s core industries.
- Proven regulatory expertise, enabling full compliance with Swiss FINMA standards for remote identification.
- Full SaaS software platform, allowing Intrum to build and operate independent Swiss data residence and Swiss go to market approach.
- Scalable, flexible integration, supporting Intrum’s platform model and evolving business strategy.
The solution
A unified digital onboarding experience
Recognising the diverse needs of its clientele, Intrum implemented a comprehensive suite of IDnow's identity verification solutions. They began its transformation by embedding IDnow's automated and expert-led video identity verification directly into its Digital Onboarding Platform, creating a single, unified interface that connected KYC, fraud prevention and credit checks. What once required multiple manual steps now happened in one streamlined digital flow.
Through this integration of multiple verification methods, Intrum empowered its customers – banks, telcos and financial service providers – to select the ideal balance between automation and human verification, aligning their onboarding journey with risk levels, compliance needs and customer expectations.
“We have more than 250 active clients, who are using IDnow solutions for VideoIdent or AutoIdent. Those products have enabled us to further strengthen customer relationships and improve what our clients can offer.”
Gianin Carl, Head of Digital Onboarding at Intrum
The results
From manual to fully digital onboarding
The partnership between Intrum and IDnow turned identity verification into a business accelerator:
- Go-to-market time cut by 79%: From an industry average of 192 days to just 40 days, enabling financial institutions to launch new digital products in record time.
- Faster onboarding for end users by 99%: From manual checks that take up to weeks at a bank to 1-minute automated onboarding or 3-4 minutes via video identification.
- Scalability and reach: Between 150,000 and 200,000 verifications per month, serving financial and regulated industries across Switzerland.
- Market leadership: Intrum is now the country’s leading debt collecting company as well as a leading provider of identity verification and credit management, offering a true 360° platform for identity, credit and compliance.
“Thanks to our partnership with IDnow, we've become the clear market leader in digital identification, and this service has also opened up new markets for our debt collection services. We are now the market leaders, and that would not have been possible without the partnership and the dedicated team at IDnow.”
Thomas Hutter, Managing Director at Intrum
Product development
Accessibility for non-EU users & security enhancements
To comply with local regulatory requirements and make digital onboarding accessible to all users – including non-Swiss residents – IDnow and Intrum jointly developed several key product enhancements tailored to the Swiss regulatory landscape, including:
- Two-document flow: A process combining identity verification (via a passport or an ID card) with a “proof of address” document, such as a utility bill, allowing full remote onboarding for non-Swiss residents.
This enhancement improved accessibility, compliance and user experience, broadening the reach of Intrum’s digital onboarding platform.
Architecture & integration
IDnow’s automated and video solutions are integrated into Intrum’s Digital Trust Platform through a secure API-based architecture. This setup connects identity verification with Intrum's modules, such as credit checks, trusted services and digital signatures, creating a unified process from identification to risk assessment.
For Intrum’s customers, the platform supports multiple integration models, including SDKs, APIs and web interfaces, allowing seamless embedding of identity verification within their own systems. This flexibility ensures consistent compliance, scalability and faster deployment across industries.
“The IDnow team supported us throughout the entire implementation phase, explained the processes to us and at the same time informed us about the risks, but they also showed us how these risks can be successfully avoided.”
Gianin Carl, Head of Digital Onboarding at Intrum
The security & compliance
Operating in one of the most regulated markets in Europe, Intrum places compliance at the core of its digital onboarding offering. Every verification process within the Digital Trust Platform is built to meet FINMA requirements for remote identification, ensuring that banks and financial institutions can onboard customers digitally while maintaining full regulatory assurance.
By aligning closely with FINMA’s evolving regulations, Intrum not only safeguards customer identities but also gives financial institutions the confidence to innovate within a fully compliant digital environment.
