SCB to launch first ever “EASY E-KYC” technology Open savings account can be done on mobile app

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has upgraded its SCB EASY mobile banking application service launching a new “EASY E-KYC” feature.

The new feature will enable customers to open savings accounts by themselves using the SCB EASY mobile application. This new process will adopt Electronic Know Your Customer technology (E-KYC) using biometrics on mobile applications, which will offer increased security and convenience as customers can process their applications without having to visit branches.

In the initial stage, the new feature will be available only for new customers using mobile phones running Android 5.1 or newer. It is expected that continual new feature development will increase the number of SCB EASY users to 9-10 million by year-end 2018.

SCB Digital Banking Division First Senior Vice President Mr. Tana Pothikamjorn said that SCB is continually seeking to stand in the forefront of mobile banking technology, in alignment with its “Bank as a Platform” vision which seeks to respond to every customer requirement. The ultimate goal is to become a large digital platform driven by technology and data in the next three years.

The announcement of the waiver of all SCB EASY transaction fees in March 2018 has prompted a record high increase in the number of users applying for the application, with 18,000 new applications per day, marking a new historical statistic of 350,000 new customers per month on average. With its increasing popularity, SCB EASY users currently stand at more than 7 million. Going forward, the Bank is committed to continue developing new application features to offer a new digital experience for increased customer engagement.

Following a major transformation since August 2017, SCB EASY users have increased to more than 7 million.

In the second half of 2018, SCB will focus on expanding the SCB EASY customer base with the launch of the “EASY E-KYC” feature to tap those who have never used any SCB products. The new feature will enable savings account opening via SCB EASY without having to visit a bank branch.

Regarded as a first ever technological development for account opening on a digital platform, the approach offers both convenience and security, allowing customers to open accounts by themselves. During the initial stage, the E-KYC feature will be available only for mobile phones with Android 5.1 operating systems or newer versions and under BoT regulatory sandbox. In the next step, the Bank will continue embracing technologies to develop new products to support the government’s digital ID policy. This is part of the Bank’s efforts to promote Thailand’s National e-Payment policy.

“The E-KYC technology is a process using biometrics to identify customers to increase banking transaction convenience. Customers can perform transactions anywhere without the traditional face-to-face approach. Aiming to reduce the duration of operational processes and paper-based documents, SCB has adopted E-KYC technology to enable customers to perform account opening by themselves on SCB EASY. The process will require a national ID card, passport, and facial recognition scanning.

It is expected that continual feature development for SCB EASY will help boost the number of users to 9-10 million by year-end 2018 as planned”, said Mr. Tana.