Database of subjects: INN can become the main document for working with banks
The INN may become the main document for identifying bank customers, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. Currently, credit institutions confirm identity through the system of interdepartmental interaction and passport authenticity requests to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, access to it was recently disabled without explanation, which significantly affected the work of financial organizations. Access to the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is planned to be paid, which, according to a number of industry representatives, may lead to an increase in the cost of banking services. Whether the market will be able to find alternative ways to confirm the identity of customers is discussed in the Izvestia article.
Why can the INN become the base for identifying bank customers?
Against the background of problems with access to the Interior Ministry's systems, banks may start using an individual taxpayer's number (INN) to identify customers, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. It does not change during life and can become the main document when conducting banking transactions.
In general, everything is moving towards the growth of the role of INN in identifying bank customers, confirmed Andrey Emelin, head of the National Council of the Financial Market (NSFM). The INN is the basis of the Unified Population Register, and the Federal Tax Service and the Bank of Russia are the most effective agencies in terms of electronic services. Using a single identifier will simplify the interaction between information systems.
The number is already gradually being consolidated as a key element of the financial infrastructure. For example, when applying for a self-registration for loans through the MFC, not only an identity document is required, but also an INN. This shows that the regulator considers it as a stable identifier when dealing with credit history and fraud protection.
The INN is required when applying for loans from March 2025. It will also become a key identifier in the SBP from July this year. The Central Bank obliges credit institutions to link it to new and existing customer accounts. Banks can receive this data automatically through the services of the Federal Tax Service without a direct request from customers.
This number is already used in banking practice as an additional identifier, the press service of the Association of Big Data reported. By itself, it does not verify identity and is used together with passport data, but it has the important advantage of stability and the absence of duplicates, since the tax service maintains the relevance of the database.
At the same time, a passport is a secure document with a photo and visual identification, which allows you to make sure that you are looking at a specific person, said Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at RANEPA. An INN is only a set of numbers that anyone can theoretically name, so it cannot be used as the only way to verify identity.
At the same time, the INN itself can be a basic authenticator, but it can also be used in combination with other data, Andrey Emelin emphasized. In general, the mechanism can be as follows: first, the bank performs full identification of the client with a wide range of documents and information, and then, when interacting with GIS (FSSP, courts, Roskomnadzor and others), where passport data was previously required, an INN can be used.
The combined identification model looks the most effective, concluded Vladimir Chernov. In it, the INN acts as a basic and permanent identifier, the passport is used to confirm identity, and biometrics is enabled if necessary. This approach allows you to divide functions between different tools and increase the reliability of the entire system.
What is the problem with passports?
The existing model of identification through a passport and the system of interdepartmental interaction (IMEA) is gradually ceasing to meet the requirements of the digital economy, Vladimir Chernov believes. It is still important for document verification, but it is no longer fully suitable for the role of a universal identifier in all financial services.
The main problem is that the SMEV itself does not store information, but only transmits it between systems, he noted. If the data is updated with a delay, then the verification result turns out to be inaccurate — this is especially noticeable when replacing passports.
The key limitations are related to the quality and availability of data, the press service of the Big Data Association agreed. In particular, long information update times are often recorded for passports, which reduces the speed and reliability of checks.
The question of the sufficiency of the current system has become particularly acute recently. Recently, banks have faced a temporary loss of access to checking citizens' passports through the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As reported by a number of media outlets, on April 15, the agency, without prior notice, disabled access to the document verification service through the SMEV. The Ministry of Finance stated that the system of interdepartmental interaction itself is working correctly, and the failure is related to the "owner of the information."
—Without access to passport databases, online lending has actually stopped — large banks send hundreds of thousands of such requests per day," said Denis Astafyev, an entrepreneur, fund manager and founder of the SharesPro fintech platform.
Unfortunately, so far not all banks have restored access to the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said Andrey Emelin from NSFR. Credit organizations submit reconnection requests to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which take a certain amount of time to process. And until the problem is solved, their work is greatly complicated, although not paralyzed. The Ministry of Internal Affairs points to a technical glitch — similar situations have already happened before (for example, in 2024, access to databases was restricted for seven days), and in such cases there should be a "plan B" for uninterrupted online passport verification through the services of other departments. The Bank of Russia has already given the necessary recommendations on such services, and the NSFM has sent additional consolidated proposals from banks to the Central Bank.
Why access to passport verification may become more difficult
Exactly three weeks before the failure, on March 25, a bill was published on the introduction of a fee of 50 rubles for each request to the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The business community immediately started talking about the connection between these events, Denis Astafyev said. According to him, the proposed tariff is 10 times higher than the cost of similar requests to other state systems through the SMEV. According to the ministry's own calculations, such a request cost, with an average annual volume of 2.4 billion requests, will give the budget about 120 billion rubles per year.
However, the Association of Big Data, which unites Sber, VTB, T-Bank, Gazprombank and other financial organizations, warned of the inevitable increase in the cost of banking services for citizens. Both the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring opposed it.
— If we are talking about checks that banks are required to carry out by law (for example, as part of the anti—money laundering requirements), it is logical that such requests remain free of charge, - Alexey Voylukov believes.
The introduction of fees can lead to higher costs for businesses, Denis Astafyev believes. And these costs are likely to be shifted to customers who use the services of banks, MFIs, insurers, telecom operators and marketplaces.
In his opinion, the transition to INN as a basic identifier would reduce the dependence on passport checks in real time. This will make the infrastructure more resilient to failures and reduce market sensitivity to data access issues.
The World Bank notes in its research that the use of INN increases the connectivity of government data, as well as reduces costs and simplifies identity verification in payment and digital systems. The tax ID is also used as one of the basic details for identifying customers in the United States. In addition, a similar system operates in Kazakhstan and Belarus.
International experience shows that such systems work effectively, said Vladimir Chernov. The tax identifier must be unique and lifelong, linked to the state register, supplemented by document verification and anti-fraud control, but not replace the entire identification system.
Biometrics, which is already being used as a full-fledged identity verification tool, is also being considered as an alternative to traditional identification, Alexey Voylukov said. Video-based solutions are also being discussed, but they are still being worked out.
These changes may push the market and the regulator to ensure that the INN becomes the basis of identification in banks, concluded Vladimir Chernov. Such a system better meets the requirements of the digital economy and reduces dependence on individual departmental services.
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