The Role of eKYC in Digital Lending

In SouthEast Asia, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are crucial for enhancing economic activity and creating new jobs. However, there is an SME finance gap that exists, which produces a significant impact on SMEs and their ability to influence job creation and economic activity. This is because SMEs often have trouble obtaining the funds and capital necessary to establish, run, and grow their businesses.

This enables the rise of Fintech institutions, and their ability to provide alternative financing services to the benefit of SMEs. Nonetheless, this might be challenging for these Fintech firms because most SMEs operate across a variety of industry sectors, many of which can be regarded as informal. Hence, it can be difficult for traditional lenders to identify the authenticity of genuine SMEs that deserve funding and access to lending services. To address this issue, OneConnect Financial Technology leads the push to enhance financial technology security and compliance within SouthEast Asia.

Among its innovations, OneConnect fields the adoption of products like the Cognito Electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) solution, to enhance client security.. The eKYC solution offers a digital and remote adaptation of the traditional KYC process. With our eKYC solution, financial institutions can ensure that their customers’ identities are quickly verified. In addition, it allows companies to give customers a seamless, pleasant, and straightforward transacting experience. Above all, Cognito aids financial institutions in improving the uptake and accessibility of their services. Implementing eKYC procedures improves customer satisfaction and guarantees that customers can utilise the services of these companies, enabling greater access to financial solutions among SouthEast Asian SMEs.

Our eKYC has numerous features, including:

1. Facial Recognition & Liveness Detection

Our face recognition system compares the picture on an ID with a facial image to determine if it genuinely belongs to the person presenting it.

2. OCR

Our deep learning Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology captures and extracts Identity Document (ID) information to fill out forms automatically during onboarding. For ID recognition, our deep-learning OCR system can cross-validate the symbol landmarks.

3. Management Dashboard

There are dashboards for case management and process optimisation

4. 3rd party verification

Users have the option of integrating with 3rd party databases for identity verification. These databases include the national identity database, credit bureau, AML/CTF, etc.

5. Voice Print

Our voice recognition analyses a person’s voice to confirm their identification in just ten seconds. As a result, organisations can handle more calls and lessen fraud from identity theft thanks to speedy client authentication. Also, it offers simple and safe multi-factor biometric security in addition to facial recognition.

The eKYC has been in several South East Asia banks and has proven successful. In the words of Ms. Ng Chai Lan, Senior Product Manager of OCFT,

“OneConnect’s eKYC is capable of verifying an individuals’ identity via AI-based OCR with over 90% accuracy results, as well as e-Passport, and biometrics captured (facial recognition; liveness detection, voice print, Smart Interview) for remote authentication and data retention for future servicing requests. As part of security enhancement, the solution is able to integrate with customised bank systems and external agencies for Anti Money Laundering (AML) or blacklist screening.”

As the Senior Product Manager of OneConnect’s eKYC team. I am proud to see the solution being deployed in a number of South East Asia’s top banks, accelerating their customers’ onboarding journey and complementing our end-to-end digital lending and banking solutions.”

If you want to learn more about OCFT eKYC and other revolutionary digital products, click here.