Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank (NBD Bank) will be enabling remote onboarding through a new partnership with OneConnect. NBD is the first bank in Sri Lanka to offer such a service, after the country passed new legislation to permit the practice in October of 2020.
Axion Solutions will act as the systems integrator for the project, and will specifically be installing OneConnect’s Video Know Your Customer (vKYC) solution. The video conferencing system is not fully automated, so NBD customers will still need to set up a video interview with a representative of the bank in order to open an account or take out a loan.
However, the vKYC platform will allow people to complete that process remotely rather than in person, making the interaction more convenient while helping to reduce the threat of COVID-19. The vKYC solution also includes some other features found in automated onboarding systems. Most notably, OneConnect’s vKYC uses face and document recognition to verify the customer’s identity in real time, matching the individual’s face to the image on an official ID.
To make things easier for the bank, the platform will generate an auditable record that tracks the time and location of each video recording. The videos themselves will be stored by a local telecommunications company in Sri Lanka. Customers can schedule an appointment in advance to reduce their wait time, and can use the service without downloading a dedicated app because the platform can run through a web mobile interface.
NBD is hoping that OneConnect will encourage more Sri Lankan residents to participate in the modern digital economy. The vast majority (90 percent) of the population has a bank account, but residents have been slow to adopt other financial services, with only 15 and 10 percent using a debit or credit card, respectively.
OneConnect is a subsidiary of the Ping An Group in China. The company previously partnered with UBX to use blockchain technology to facilitate small business loans in the Philippines, and entered the European market through an alliance with finleap connect.
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