Bahrain central bank announces launch of eKYC as part of digital transformation strategy

Published 31 Jan,2021 via bizbahrain - Following the announcement of the national digital identity and the electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) platform in April 2019, 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 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.

The platform 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.