Following the announcement by Deputy Governor Jessica Chew earlier this September, Bank Negara Malaysia has officially released the e-KYC guidelines which sets out the minimum requirements and standards that an approved remittance service provider must observe in implementing e-KYC.

The guideline came into effect on 30th November 2017.

KYC (Know-Your-Customer) is a process in which financial institutions are required to execute in order to authenticate a customer’s identity, which are typically done face to face, whereas e-KYC as the name suggests, is a method that relies on digital technologies to perform the same task in a more seamless manner.

The introduction of this guideline is part of Bank Negara Malaysia’s continuous efforts to use digitalisation of remittance to promote the use of formal channels as well as lower the costs of remittance services.

Under this framework remittance provider are permitted to verify a customer’s identity via video calls, selfies and social media on top of the databases maintained by the National Registration Department, telecommunication companies and sanctions lists issued by credible sources.

With the guideline firmly in place, the need for customers to physically show up has been removed from the equation.

More information on the guideline can be found here.

This article was first published on fintechnews.sg