Launch of eKYC bolsters Central Bank of Bahrains digital transformation strategy

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MANAMA: The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced the successful launch of eKYC by financial institutions in the kingdom as part of its initiatives for digital transformation in the sector.

The move follows the announcement of the national digital identity and the electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) platform in April last year.

The national eKYC platform, which was the first of its kind in the region targeting retail banks, financial services providers and money exchange networks, is operated by Benefit in collaboration with the Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) and under the supervision of the CBB.

It provides a national digital identity database for financial institutions to securely verify the identities of their customers, validate their information and share data digitally before providing products and services.

This includes retrieval of customer data from governmental entities including IGA. Benefit has also developed the Application Programming Interface (API) for the platform, which allows for seamless integration with financial institutions core systems, digital channels and mobile apps.

With the introduction of Open Banking in Bahrain, this also provides an opportunity for fintech companies to verify customers’ identities through their online and mobile applications.

CBB’s banking supervision executive director Khalid Al Hamad said, “The CBB urges all licensed financial institutions to avail of this innovative and streamlined service and accelerate its efforts towards automating the maintenance of its customer data and reputation records, by implementing eKYC API integration with their core systems, digital channels and mobile apps.

“We continue to support technological advancement in the sector to minimise cost while also fostering innovation and integration between financial institutions and fintech companies. This is also in line with the CBB’s continuous efforts in developing the financial sector infrastructure in light of the Covid-19 repercussions to ensure appropriate solutions for electronic payment systems.”

Benefit chief executive Abdulwahid Janahi said that developing the eKYC platform was helping to drive digital transformation in the kingdom’s various sectors.

“We have succeeded in enabling the integration of this digital platform into core banking systems and smart phone applications, and Bahrain Islamic Bank has successfully integrated this platform into its core banking services system, while “ila” Bank offers customer on-boarding in a completely digital and autonomous manner through its mobile app, both based on eKYC API integration. We look forward to the use of eKYC services on a larger scale during the coming period.”

iGA electronic transformation deputy chief executive Dr Zakareya Ahmed Alkhaja confirmed that iGA co-operated with Benefit in implementing the technical development of the project, under the supervision of CBB.

“The authority has started providing identity verification services to the government sector, and this project complements providing the services to the private sectors, especially the banking sector, as the project will allow it to start providing innovative, high-quality, secure data services that keep the privacy of individuals. That will lead to enhance economic growth and expand commercial activities in the kingdom.

“The eKYC project is the first of its kind in the region and the first at the level of global applications in terms of co-operation between the government and the banking sector, as the implementation of projects globally is limited to co-operation between banks in the private sector. This project is also one of the first projects using blockchain technology in Bahrain,” Mr Alkhaja added.

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