Barclays Africa, Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank have signed up to use a Thomson Reuters system to enhance customer profiling and meet Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.
The banks signed up to an adapted version of Thomson Reuters’ Org ID system for the South African market, designed to help financial institutions streamline counterparty due diligence and better maintain KYC compliance records.
Globally, Thomson Reuters says it now has 15 major financial institutions and asset management groups using its Org ID system which launched in 2014.
It has invested in further expanding its operations in South Africa with operational hubs deployed in Johannesburg and Cape Town to complement global centres in Poland, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
In a statement, Phakamani Hadebe, South Africa chief executive officer of Barclays Africa Corporate and Investment Bank, said: “We are proud to have co-championed the formation of a KYC utility to reduce the administrative burden on our clients.”
Steve Pulley, global managing director of Risk Managed Services at Thomson Reuters, said the system will help clients to meet the demands of local and global regulators.
He added: “Together with our design partners, we have developed a solution in South Africa extensible across the continent that will enable financial institutions and their clients to get down to business far more quickly and efficiently while significantly reducing the cost burden of complying with KYC requirements in these markets.
“This is another example of our commitment to empowering Africa through strong local presence and domain expertise.”
African banks choose Thomson Reuters’ KYC system
The Org ID system is designed to enhance customer profiling and KYC requirements.