Dubai Economy and Emirates NBD go live with the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform

By Edil Corneille

Dubai Economy and Emirates NBD announced the go-live of the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform, which is an initiative that facilitates secure digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functionality, and sharing of verified KYC (Know-Your-Customer) data between licensing authorities and financial institutions via advanced distributed blockchain technology. This initiative is powered by norbloc, a global leader in blockchain KYC technology.

First announced in February 2020, the initiative is set to become a nationwide ecosystem for the exchange of verified KYC data. The project is fully supported by Smart Dubai and the Central Bank of UAE. Meanwhile, the Commercial Bank of Dubai, ADCB, HSBC, and RAKBANK are also set to go live very soon.

Omar Bushahab, CEO of Business Registration & Licensing (BRL) Sector in Dubai Economy enthused, “We are very proud to announce that the UAE KYC Blockchain Platform is now production-ready with over 120 companies already instantly onboarded by Emirates NBD with active and operational bank accounts. This is one of the initiatives that contributes to Agenda Number One of Dubai Model which focuses on improving customer experience…”

“Emirates NBD is the first banking group to go live on the platform with its initial use case covering E20, its digital business bank. The next milestone will be the go-live of Emirates NBD’s additional use cases and of our remaining banking partners along with the official release of the Consortium Agreement that will govern the ecosystem and outline how data will be shared between Consortium Members. We are also in advanced discussions with a second wave of financial institutions and free zones to further expand the initiative, and we welcome the remaining financial institutions and free zones to join this effort,” Bushahab added.

With the launch of Phase I, Dubai Economy has migrated all active trade licenses onto the blockchain platform, representing over 40 percent of all active trade licenses in the UAE. In addition to receiving new leads to open bank accounts, participating financial institutions are now able to leverage the blockchain platform to seamlessly pull data of their customers and receive real-time updates made to customer data.

Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD enunciated, “…Emirates NBD is a leading supporter of home-grown SMEs and start-ups who are key contributors to the UAE economy, and we are proud to announce our first live use case which enables SME customers to open accounts instantly through our E20 Digital Business Bank app.” He added, “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.”

“The UAE is one of the first countries in the world to implement a country-wide, blockchain based ecosystem for data sharing,” Astyanax Kanakakis, CEO of norbloc elucidated. “The commitment of Dubai Economy, leading financial institutions such as Emirates NBD, Dubai Government, and the UAE Government to this initiative demonstrates a proactive and ambitious mindset, and positions the UAE as one of the first countries taking significant measures towards creating a digital low touch economy with simplified processes ensuring that business can continue to thrive in the post-COVID environment.”