What it is

A single customer view (SCV) is a consolidated data file that a bank must be able to produce, aggregating all of a given depositor's eligible deposits into one record per depositor. Because deposit protection is applied per depositor, per institution, up to the coverage limit, the scheme cannot simply look at individual accounts: it needs the total eligible deposit position of each customer, netted and aggregated across accounts, in a standard format it can process at speed. The SCV is that format.

The file identifies the depositor, sets out the aggregate eligible balance, flags amounts that are covered up to the limit, and marks deposits that require special treatment, such as temporarily high balances, beneficiary or client-money accounts, or deposits that are ineligible or subject to legal restrictions. It exists so that, on the day a bank fails, the scheme is not reconstructing depositor data under time pressure but working from a pre-validated dataset.

How it works in practice

Maintaining the SCV is an ongoing obligation on the bank, tested by the scheme and by supervisors, rather than something assembled only at failure. Banks must be able to generate the file promptly and to a defined data quality, so that the scheme can begin reimbursement quickly. This capability is what makes the shortened repayment deadline under the current framework operable: without a reliable pre-built depositor record, a scheme could not identify and pay covered depositors within the required period.

The SCV underpins the "covered deposit" figures that flow into the resolution framework as well. Covered deposits are excluded from bail-in and are protected in resolution, so knowing precisely which balances are covered, at the level of each depositor, matters both for a DGS payout and for calibrating a resolution that transfers or protects those deposits.

The single customer view is a supervisory and operational construct rather than a term defined in a single article. It gives effect to the reimbursement and information obligations of the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive, principally Articles 5 to 8, which define eligible and covered deposits, the coverage level, the calculation of the repayable amount and the deadlines and arrangements for repayment. National authorities and schemes specify the file's data fields and quality standards in implementing rules. Because the exact contents are set at national and technical-standard level, this entry describes the mechanism rather than fixing a definitive field list.

Practical relevance for banks and investors

For banks, SCV readiness is a concrete resolvability and depositor-protection obligation: failures are typically detected in scheme tests rather than at the point of payout, and gaps must be remediated. For depositors, the SCV is what turns the coverage guarantee into a rapid payment. For analysts assessing a bank's exposure to depositor runs or the feasibility of a deposit transfer in resolution, the quality of the underlying deposit data is a practical, if often overlooked, factor.