Central Bank of Cyprus launches digital onboarding project

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Thursday announced that it has officially launched a project aimed at implementing remote customer identity verification, known as digital onboarding, in collaboration with local banks.

“This initiative seeks to streamline and enhance customer service processes for faster and more efficient services,” the CBC said.

The relevant agreement was signed between the Central Bank of Cyprus and the winning consortium, successfully concluding a competition initiated under the direction of CBC Governor Constantinos Herodotou.

The competition’s objective was to modernise the Cypriot banking system by providing fast, flexible, reliable, and efficient banking services.

The CBC explained that the competition focused on selecting a technological solution for creating a platform for remote electronic submission and identification or updating of customer details by credit institutions.

“The project, which will be implemented in three phases, aims to significantly improve the speed and quality of service for the real economy, including businesses, self-employed individuals, and households,” the CBC stated.

The project is comprised of three phases, starting with remote digital onboarding and reviewing. This phase enables the electronic submission and identification of new customers’ details and the updating of existing customer information without requiring physical presence.

The project will then focus on establishing a connection to government services. “In this phase, there will be a direct link to government services for the immediate retrieval of customer information, enhancing the Know Your Customer (KYC) process,” the CBC said, noting that “this phase will be executed once the necessary service providers are ready”.

The final and third phase, which focuses on information sharing, will facilitate the exchange of identified customer information among participating credit institutions, enabling the transfer of customer accounts from one credit institution to another upon the customer’s request.

Several banks have already confirmed their participation in the project, including the Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank, Alpha Bank Cyprus, Astrobank Public Company Limited, Cyprus Development Bank, and Eurobank Cyprus.

The CBC noted that these banks have joined the project after consultations with the Central Bank of Cyprus.

“It’s worth noting that the implementation of this digital solution is voluntary,” the CBC said.

“In this context, the Central Bank of Cyprus is inviting all credit institutions operating in Cyprus to participate in the project,” it added.

This initiative is expected to further modernise the Cypriot banking sector and simplify processes for all affected parties.