The introduction of the "eGRIS" electronic property information system will facilitate centralized, Swiss-wide querying of cantonal land register data as well as the digital processing of property transaction information between lending institutions, land registry offices and notaries. eGRIS will generate considerable savings especially for mortgage lending institutions, which is why SIX Group - as operator of Switzerland's financial market infrastructure - has been entrusted with the development and realization of eGRIS applications. Implementation of the project will be conducted in close collaboration with the cantonal land registry offices.

The services afforded by eGRIS encompass on one hand the electronic accessibility of information by means of standardized, Web-based queries of Swiss land registry data, as well as the ability for authorized users to process that data further in their own systems. On the other hand, the introduction of a so-called "book entry borrower's note" - the paperless form of a traditional borrower's note - will enable the electronic processing of land-register-related business processes such as the drawing up of borrower's notes as well as their transfer upon changes of ownership.

Plans are for SIX Group to introduce the initial eGRIS services as of 2012. Due to the necessary legal adaptations, the electronic exchange of transaction data will presumably commence in early 2014. The federal government will bear responsibility for a further dimension of eGRIS, i.e. the conceptualization and introduction of means for the long-term protection and archiving of land register data.