UAE Brings KYC Blockchain Platform for Customer Data Sharing

Dubai Economy and the country’s government-owned bank, Emirates NBD, announced a nationwide blockchain-based data platform on Tuesday. The initiative facilitates digital customer onboarding and sharing of customer data between licensing authorities and financial institutions. Dubai Economy has migrated active trade licenses to the platform, representing more than 40% of all licenses in the UAE. With the launch, participating banks can leverage the blockchain platform to seamlessly extract customer data and receive real-time updates.

A Consortium of Financial Institutions

According to the government release, the advanced blockchain project is supported by Smart Dubai and the Central Bank of UAE. Financial institutions including HSBC, Commercial Bank of Dubai, and RAKBANK will be debuting soon, the release added. The “production-ready” KYC blockchain platform already has over 120 companies instantly onboarded by Emirates NBD with active and operational accounts. The project contributes to the Dubai Government Number-One Agenda that “focuses on improving customer experience.” Omar Bushahab, CEO of Business Registration at Dubai Economy explains:

“This marks a key milestone in establishing a UAE-wide ecosystem for KYC data sharing and instant digital on-boarding of companies. It is in alignment with the government’s vision around digitization and paperless as crucial strategies that enable continuation and sustainability, especially during these challenging times, further enhancing ease of doing business in the country.”

The project was first announced in February, with a strategic KYC blockchain consortium involving six financial institutions. The alliance partnered with norbloc, a global leader in blockchain KYC, as the technology provider. Emirates NBD became the first financial institution to go-live on the platform. The remaining banking partners and an official release of the agreement will go-live in the next milestone, Bushahab added.

“Emirates NBD is delighted to be the first banking group in the UAE to partner and go-live with Dubai Economy on the UAE KYC Blockchain platform. With multiple use cases covering both Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic, this pioneering solution aligns with our shared commitment of making banking simpler for our customers, enabling them to focus on their business,”

Abdulla Qassem, Group COO at Emirates NBD, said.