Banks Can Now Use Aadhaar For KYC Authentication With The Consent Of Customers: RBI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Wednesday (28 May), said that the banks can use Aadhaar for ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) verification, taking the customer’s consent, reports The New Indian Express.

In an update of the list of documents eligible for identification of individuals, the RBI has specified the KYC norms to be followed by banks and other entities while serving their customers."Banks have been allowed to carry out Aadhaar authentication/ offline-verification of an individual who voluntarily uses his Aadhaar number for identification purpose," the central bank said in its updated Master Direction on KYC.

The Union Cabinet, in February, had decided to promulgate an ordinance to allow voluntary use of the 12-digit UID number as proof of identity while opening a bank account and procuring mobile connection.

RBI added the 'Proof of possession of Aadhaar number' to the list of Officially Valid Documents (OVD).

For those receiving benefits under various schemes through the direct benefit transfer (DBT), the bank should collect the customer’s Aadhaar number and, if required, carry out its e-KYC authentication.