Govt to Discontinue KYC within 4 years

May 8: It will take four more years to do away with the policy of filling up the Know Your Customer (KYC) form while opening a bank account. Customers are obliged to fill up the KYC form before opening a bank account in any bank or financial institution. The hassle to fill the KYC will only be removed after the distribution of the national identity card, which includes biometric information.

The government has targeted to distribute the national identity cards within four years. After the banks get access of the national identity cards, the customers do not have to fill up the KYC form as the cards will have all the required information.

Kishor Kumar Pradhan, vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, says that small scale businesses and the general public are facing problems while filling the KYC form.

“There is still doubt whether the identity cards will be distributed within four year,” he said, adding, “So for now, the KYC policy should be simplified’.

Industrialists and businesspersons have been demanding time and again to remove the KYC policy as they have to fill up the form in every bank they have accounts with, which is troublesome. For this, they have also requested the Nepal Rastra Bank.

Niraj Sharma, head of Retail Business at Nabil Bank, opines that the banking process will be easy after the identity card is available.

“A few years ago, there was a similar condition in India as well. Now, the Indian Government has started Central Depository Service whereby banks have access to information of their customers.”

The practice of filling KYC form started as to open source of the amount deposited in banks. As all the information such as annual income, affiliation, temporary and permanent address with map, family members’ name, citizenship, date and place of citizenship issued, etc are included in the national identity cards; there won’t be any need to fill the KYC form.

The government of Nepal has started a campaign to ensure that every Nepali national has a bank account.

“There is still doubt whether the identity cards will be distributed within four year,” he said, adding, “So for now, the KYC policy should be simplified’.

Niraj Sharma, head of Retail Business at Nabil Bank, opines that the banking process will be easy after the identity card is available.

“A few years ago, there was a similar condition in India as well. Now, the Indian Government has started Central Depository Service whereby banks have access to information of their customers.”

The government of Nepal has started a campaign to ensure that every Nepali national has a bank account.