Bahrain financial services deploy biometric KYC and IDV with new eKey for business

Bahraini financial service companies are integrating Bahrain’s national biometric digital identity and Know Your Customer (KYC) service for businesses, EKEY-B, provided through Beyon Connect.

Earlier this week, Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Bahrain, investment company GFH Financial Group and trading brokerage CFI Financial announced the successful launch of EKEY-B. The integration will enable financial services companies to perform customer identity verification and onboarding through Bahrain’s national digital identity platform, using facial biometrics and government-validated data.

These roll outs follow the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) deployment of the service for passwordless digital identity in December. NBB was the first bank in the Kingdom to offer a fully integrated process powered by EKEY-B.

“This collaboration represents a model of integration between the banking sector and specialised national technology companies, contributing to the advancement of Bahrain’s digital infrastructure,” says Shadi Zahran, Group CEO of KFH Bahrain.

EKEY-B is a core component of Bahrain’s eKey 2.0, a single sign-on solution that enables the country’s citizens and residents to access public platforms, such as the MyGov App, as well as private sector services, including Binance.

The national solution was originally created in 2012 but underwent a significant revamp last year in February with the help of the Bahraini Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) and Beyon Connect.

The company is part of the Beyon Group, a technology company that owns Bahrain’s main telecommunications provider, Batelco, and is tasked with helping the country achieve its digital infrastructure goals. Among the early adopters of eKey 2.0 are Batelco and financial app Beyon Money.

The government-operated eKey for Business, or EKEY-B, relies on the Central Bank of Bahrain’s KYC service to help businesses verify customers. Last year, Beyon signed an agreement for bulk KYC service that relies on Bahrain’s Central Population Registry (CRS).

Beyon is also present in other countries in the region, including Jordan, where it announced US$423 million in investment to support the country’s digital transformation. The company also signed an MoU early this year to provide trusted digital services for the Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU).

Article Topics

Bahrain  |  banking  |  Beyon Connect  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  ekey  |  ekey for business  |  financial services  |  identity verification  |  KYC  |  selfie biometrics