Business

EZULWINI – Eswatini is moving towards digital transformation with the introduction of a national electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) system.

This is aimed at revolutionising access to financial services, while strengthening national security and regional financial integration.

The e-KYC system, set to be rolled out soon, seeks to digitise the identity verification process, allowing citizens – particularly those currently excluded from formal banking systems – to seamlessly access financial services.

This marks a significant move towards financial inclusion for thousands of unbanked emaSwati and aligns with government efforts to expand participation in the formal economy.

Speaking at the official opening of a high-level stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE), Felicia Dlamini, emphasised the importance of the initiative for the nation’s financial and economic landscape.

The meeting brought together commercial banks, financial service providers, regulators and key government ministries to coordinate efforts for the implementation of the national e-KYC registry.

“This initiative is aimed at exploring the feasibility of a regional e-KYC registry that will enable secure, real-time, cross-border identity verification, thus allowing us to develop a cross-border payments infrastructure in the SADC region to advance financial inclusion, efficiency and security,” Dlamini said.

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Friction when verifying customers

EZULWINI - One of the common challenges that SADC member countries are currently experiencing with cross-border payments is the friction related to identifying and verifying customers.

The Central Bank of Eswatini Deputy Governor Dr Felicia Dlamini said, therefore, the top priority for all members is to reduce this friction.

“One way of doing this is to develop a shared regional KYC utility platform,” she reiterated.

Coming home, in Eswatini, the current manual, paper-based KYC processes are slow, costly, tedious and crate friction for emaSwati. Sometimes, it is for very low values. The current system also makes it difficult to share information securely and efficiently, which hinders our ability to detect fraud and financial crime. 

“Furthermore, we are currently unable to integrate with other regional KYC verification systems, as other regional members are more advanced in their digital identity verification systems,” she added.

She said these inefficiencies are not just technical inconveniences; they are structural barriers to innovation and inclusion.

The Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP) is providing the digital infrastructure required to support the development and operation of a national identity verification platform.

This is the country’s first step to achieving electronic KYC processes.

*Full article available in our publication.

Some of the representatives from the different financial service providers who attended the workshop on Wednesday. (Pics: Central Bank of Eswatini)