The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), a government agency responsible for preventing and investigating financial crimes, and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently agreed to collaborate to establish an electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) system to “fast-track financial inclusion” in Bangladesh. By allowing financial services providers (FSPs) to compile and certify customer data online, the e-KYC system is expected to “cut time and cost of client on boarding” thus allowing FSPs to “reach more customers digitally” with the goal of enabling financial access for 30 million first-time users over the next nine years. Once completed, usage of the e-KYC system will be required to open “new accounts at banks, non-bank financial institutions, mobile financial service providers, insurance companies and capital market intermediaries.”
Md Masud Biswas, the Executive Director of BFIU, stated that as the financial sector becomes more digitalized, the risk of cybercrime increases as well. In preparation for this, he noted, “e-KYC can be one of the most optimal solutions” to lower this risk.
Established in 2002 within the central bank of Bangladesh, BFIU seeks “to establish an effective system for prevention of money laundering, combating financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
IFC offers loans, equity investments, advisory services and technical assistance to private companies with the intent of alleviating poverty and promoting open and competitive markets in developing countries. During the 12 months ending June 2021, IFC reported disbursements of USD 31 billion, of which about one third was mobilized from partner institutions. During the same period the institution garnered USD 4.2 billion in net income from USD 105 billion in total assets.
By Adhya Singh, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Daily Star article
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/ifc-bfiu-build-infrastructure-fast-track-financial-inclusion-2206101
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit webpage
https://www.bb.org.bd/bfiu/
International Finance Corporation homepage
https://www.ifc.org/
International Finance Corporation financial statements
https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/annual+report/financials
Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.
Similar Posts:
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Establishing a Financial Services Ombudsman in Mongolia: Experiences and Lessons from Armenia, Australia and Singapore,” by Massimiliano Gangi et al
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: B2B Fintech Clowd9 Chooses Netcetera for Payments Security
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bankingly, Woodcore Partner to Help FSPs in Africa to Offer Digital Financial Services
- SPECIAL REPORT: Small Business Diaries Benefit Entrepreneurs, Microfinance Institutions #EMW2023
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “State of the Art of Green Inclusive Finance 2011-2019: Worldwide Status and Progress Over 10 Years,” by e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group
