The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that customers can complete the re-KYC process through self-declaration if there is no change in their Know Your Customer (KYC) information.
The move aims to simplify the KYC process and reduce the need for customers to visit bank branches, thereby enhancing convenience and efficiency in banking services.
“The banks have been advised to provide the facility of such self-declaration to the individual customers through various non-face-to-face channels such as registered email-ids, registered mobile numbers, ATMs, digital channels (such as online banking/internet banking, mobile applications), and letters without needing to visit a bank branch,” the RBI reportedly stated in a media report.
“In addition, if there is merely a change in address, customers can provide an updated or revised address through any of these channels, and the bank will verify the stated address within two months,” it states.
The significance of frequent updates
The RBI states that banks are required to keep current records and review customer data on a regular basis. In certain situations, a fresh KYC process may be necessary. This includes situations in which:
The KYC documents on file do not match the list of Officially Valid Documents (OVDs) that is currently available.
Passports, driver’s licences, voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards, NREGA-issued job cards, and letters from the National Population Register are among the OVDs that are accepted for KYC purposes.
The KYC documents that were previously submitted are no longer valid.
In these situations, banks are required to confirm that they have received any new paperwork or self-declarations that clients have submitted.
Wherever the banks have enabled it, new KYC can be completed in person at a branch or remotely via a video-based customer identification process (V-CIP).
New KYC process
Going to a Bank Branch: To finish the necessary paperwork, customers can go straight to their bank’s branch.
Video-Based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP): Customers can use video calls to complete their KYC remotely at banks that have this technology. This technique uses time-stamping and geo-tagging to guarantee security and authenticity throughout the identification process.