The United Arab Emirates’s central bank is set to launch a nationwide know your customer (KYC) platform for banks and fintechs, a major milestone in the country’s efforts to digitise its financial services sector.
The “unified digital identity platform” brings Emirati financial institutions, fintechs and individuals together on a single system, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) announced today, and will improve digital processes for users while “substantially reducing turnaround times and operational costs”.
CBUAE has signed a technical partnership agreement with technology provider Norbloc, with which it had already developed a blockchain-based KYC network to streamline bank onboarding process for companies, to build the new platform.
The original blockchain pilot launched in 2020 with the support of banks such as Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and went on to include HSBC, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and other financial institutions and licensing authorities.
The new national infrastructure initiative – which is still in the early development and onboarding stages – replaces the previous network and widens the ecosystem to include individuals and companies.
Participation for all regulated financial entities will become mandatory as the platform evolves, GTR understands.
CBUAE’s assistant governor for banking operations and support services, Saif Humaid Al Dhaheri, said: “The development of the e-KYC platform represents a strategic transformation towards a more efficient and resilient financial ecosystem.
“Through this platform, we are enabling the sector to move away from resource‑intensive traditional processes towards progressive digital models that accelerate access to financial services and reduce operational costs.”
The e-KYC initiative is part of the central lender’s long-term digitalisation goals, and a key pillar of its Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme to overhaul the financial services sector by “modernising regulatory frameworks and adopting advanced digital solutions”, CBUAE said.
The new platform is set to improve both KYC and KYB (know your business) processes while addressing challenges around the duplication of customer due diligence processes and reducing compliance costs.
CBUAE said the e-KYC project will bolster financial compliance and alignment with global anti‑money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism frameworks.
Norbloc’s CEO, Astyanax Kanakakis, said the platform “will fundamentally reshape how government entities and financial institutions share and verify customer and company data across the UAE”.
“At Norbloc, we’ve spent years building Fides, the technology powering this initiative –the only distributed KYC utility in production globally. Seeing it adopted as national infrastructure by one of the region’s most forward-thinking regulators is a milestone for the entire team,” he added.
