Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (Dubai Economy) and one of the leading financial hubs in the MENA region, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have agreed to collectively work towards positioning the UAE KYC (Know Your Customer) Blockchain Consortium as the national corporate e-KYC Platform.
The collaboration which will make UAE KYC one of the first platforms to gain recognition of becoming a national corporate e-KYC standard will allow licensing authorities and financial institutions to share verified e-KYC data among them through advanced distributed technologies, making customer onboarding fast, secure and streamlined.
Phase 1 of the UAE KYC platform went live in June 2020 with Dubai Economy, DIFC, Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic, Commercial Bank of Dubai, HSBC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, RAKBANK and Mashreq Bank extending their support to the system.
Over the last year, more entities have joined with as much as 50 percent of corporate e-KYC records in UAE being held on the platform now.
Dr. Lowai Mohamed Belhoul Director-General Legal Affairs Department Government of Dubai
“This pioneering blockchain initiative demonstrates the rapid advancements in technology implementation made by Dubai Economy to facilitate and improve the ease of doing business in the Emirate of Dubai and across the UAE. The Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department is proud to be one of Dubai Economy’s key strategic partners on this first-of-its-kind initiative for the region where we have provided and continue to provide legal support to Dubai Economy in their consolidation efforts with DIFC and the formation of the Consortium Agreement for the UAE KYC Blockchain Consortium.”
“Dubai Economy is focused on strengthening our digital economy and the launch of the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform in partnership with our key banking partners is a testament to our ambitions to transform Dubai into a global investment destination. Following its launch in 2020, the platform has become increasingly crucial not only in simplifying the procedures for opening bank accounts for investors, but also in enabling banks to digitally receive verified KYC data. This initiative has a positive impact in attracting business and on the global ease of doing business ranking of Dubai and the UAE,” said Abdulla Hassan, CEO, Corporate Support Sector, Dubai Economy.
Alya Al Zarouni, Executive Vice President of Operations at DIFC Authority, said, “DIFC has been at the forefront in positioning Dubai as the leading business destination in the region since its inception 16 years ago. We are looking forward to working with Dubai Economy to share best practices so we can collectively advance Dubai’s digital economy. Implementing a nationwide e-KYC solution will make it easier for new businesses to open accounts easily when they set up operations in the UAE and supports our leading position in the region for managing privacy and data protection to the highest international standards.”
