Amidst the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown, the Government of India and the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) that regulates the capital market has decided to ease the norms of KYC. According to the new ruling, a simple and standardized KYC process has to be adopted by the banks, NBFCs and other financial agencies.
What Is KYC?
KYC or Know Your Customer is a process carried out by banks, NBFCs, digital payment companies and other financial institutions to verify the identity of a prospective client/customer. This is done prior to entering into a contract with the bank/financial agency. The norms set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) states that to access the services of the particular bank/financial institution she/he must complete the KYC procedures. KYC is necessary for making financial investments including the following:
- To open a stock account
- To open an FD account
- To open a new bank account
- For mutual fund investments
Following the lockdown, due to the COVID 19 outbreak, the Government of India and SEBI has introduced 4 simple and standardized KYC processes that can ease the process of investment. They are the following:
1. Aadhaar eKYC
9 entities have been authorized to carry out Aadhaar based eKYC to verify the identity of a prospective customer/client that approaches a bank/NBFC/financial agency. Aadhaar eKYC process helps to establish the identity of a client through the process of Aadhaar authentication. A gazetted notification was released by the Finance Ministry in this regard. The decision was to make the KYC procedure completely digital. The 9 entities chosen include the following:
- CDLS Ventures Ltd
- Central Depository Services India Ltd
- BSE Ltd
- CAMS Investor Services Pvt. Ltd
- Link Intime India Pvt. Ltd
- National Stock Exchange
These entities have been successful in meeting the standards of security and privacy mentioned under the Aadhaar Act of 2016 and hence was chosen by the Government of India.
Other Online KYC Services
2. Digilocker
3. IPV/ In-Person Verification
4. Aadhaar e-Sign
The government of India has set forth a method of signing a document digitally using one’s Aadhaar. This is legal and considered equivalent to a physical signature/wet signature. Aadhaar e-Sign is done using a one-time password. KYC is important to prevent corruption, money laundering and bribery. It allows the financial institutions/government to maintain a track of such illegal practices and prevent it.
Besides, you get access to the premium facilities/products of the agency and transactions can be done quickly. The guidelines set forth by the SEBI states that it KYC procedure is mandatory to open a Demat account/ bank account/trading account anywhere in India.
For more information contact us.
We, Finahub, are experts in Aadhaar related products and services like eSign, eKYC, Authentication, etc. If you want to know how your enterprise can start using it, please give us a call @ 0484 2388285 or email us at [email protected]