MAS aborts shared 'know your customer' project

SINGAPORE (Nov 12): The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has scrapped an industry-wide project for banks to share background and personal information of new customers under the “know-your-customer” or “KYC” checks.

Instead of banks conducting KYC checks separately, MAS had intended the data be pooled into a common database from which checks can be made as and when new customers are signed up by banks. This was supposed to help prevent duplication of efforts and reduce costs.

“But the economics did not work out: our proposed solution was going to cost more than the savings that banks will get out of it ... So, we have decided to take a pause on the project,” says Ravi Menon, MAS managing director at the Singapore Fintech Festival this morning.

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