Malaysian bank to finalize e-KYC standards

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has announced that by October 2017, standards for the electronic Know-Your-Customer (e-KYC) are expected to be finalized.

 

BNM will be issuing proposed regulatory parameters for the conduct of e-KYC processes for remittance transactions. Thus, the existing requirements for face-to-face verifications for onboarding new customers would be removed for companies that received approval to conduct e-KYC. Commenting on BNM’s initiative on e-KYC, the Malaysian Association of Money Services Business President said the move would help the money services business (MSB) industry to grow faster.

 

The central bank considers important regulatory changes as they facilitate innovation; furthermore BNM strives to provide an environment that encourages innovation in the financial industry, including in the MSB sector, according to bank’s representative.

 

In May 2017, BNM Governor, was reported by Daily Express as saying the central bank hoped to operationalise an industry-wide implementation of e-KYC for the onboarding of customers by 2018.