Press Release.
Manama, Bahrain – BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has successfully integrated the insurance sector to the Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) service in collaboration with Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA). This initiative is in line with The Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) direction toward the digitisation of insurance services.
The eKYC service aims to support insurers to start the process of paperless KYC for their online customer onboarding journeys. This will further promote digital transformation within the insurance sector while meeting and setting standards for KYC regulatory requirements.
The National eKYC service is the first of its kind in the region, covering the entire financial sector on a national level, placing Bahrain at the forefront in the Arab World as a top financial technology centre. Additionally, such collaborative efforts with BIA has resulted in the financial market experiencing a strategic quantum leap.
The onboarding of this platform does not only improve consumer experience, but also allows consumers to access insurance services more quickly, as well as assist insurance companies in managing KYC records of their customers in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. Furthermore, the digitalisation of such services allows insurance and reinsurance companies to combine customer convenience with transaction safety and security.
On this occasion, BENEFIT’s CE Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “It is with distinct pleasure that we announce our collaboration with BIA on such an initiative, which has the potential to digitally revolutionise the insurance industry and places customer experience at the forefront of digital transformation. Bahrain has already adopted eKYC solutions since 2019 covering retail banks, financial service providers, and money exchange networks, allowing the financial industry to onboard new customers and better serve the needs of the digital generation. Now, it is time for the insurance industry to adopt the same eKYC solutions and reap the benefits of the industry’s transformation.”
He added, “BENEFIT’s provision of identity authentication via a full-fledged single platform, enhances Bahrain’s electronic platform, in accordance with Bahrain’s Vision 2030.”
On his part, Dr Abdulla Sultan, Vice-Chairman of the BIA and Chairman of the BIA Digital Committee said, “We are honoured to be collaborating with BENEFIT to deliver innovative eKYC solutions to the insurance industry. With digital transformation making a breakthrough across a majority of sectors, it is just as crucial for insurance companies to adapt and take on digital opportunities to remain competitive and relevant. The eKYC platform provides a number of benefits for our clients including efficiency, personalisation, and agility. Furthermore, by leveraging digital ecosystems, we are delivering our objective in line with the vision of the Kingdom of Bahrain and CBB of raising insurance awareness among society’s various segments.”
The BENEFIT Company has been the operator of the National eKYC platform in the Kingdom, in cooperation with Bahrain Information and eGovernment Authority and under the supervision of The Central Bank of Bahrain, ever since the implementation of the eKYC project in April 2019. In order to integrate with the financial sector and data providers as seamlessly as possible, the project offers an advanced state-of-art platform through Blockchain, AWS Cloud Computing, as well as an innovative set of APIs.
The Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) has about 50 members, comprising local insurance companies, foreign insurance companies, reinsurance, brokers and service providers. Bringing together the insurance industry to facilitate exchange of information and cooperation in all matters relating to the industry is one of its key objectives.