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Just curious, how do other countries do it? For example, can I get a loan in Canada online or over the phone (not in person)?

• PeterisP 9y ago
  The EU practice of shifting the practical risks from the impersonated person to the defrauded lender means that lenders are less eager to accept risks and more careful with verification. Usually, you get loans from your bank - and since you have a preexisting relationship and secure authentication methods, you generally can do it remotely. However, establishing your identity to a new organization usually requires a visit in person and verifying official ID; the lenders who don't require this (e.g. various companies offering small payday loans) have a much higher rate of fraud and thus charge high interest rates to cover those risks. A popular measure that I've seen used is that they require you to wire them 1 cent from the account to which they'll pay out the loan, which can remotely show that you most likely own that account.