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29 March 2024

Update your 'KYC' or your bank may 'freeze' your transactions

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

UAE banks are advising customers to complete the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) requirement with those failing could find their cheque clearance facilities being blocked.

An internal circular, issued by a local bank and seen by Emirates 24/7, says that the new changes on cheque clearing system (ICCS system) have been deployed as per UAE Central Bank regulation for both individuals and corporates, where each of the inward and outward cheque transactions will require completed KYC for account basic details to process the transaction.

If not updated, transaction will not be processed and get rejected by Central Bank processing session, the circular said.

A banking source confirmed that the regulation has been in place for some time now, but banks are stepping up the pace of adhering to the requirement.

A call centre executive of UAE local bank confirmed to this website that all their customers are being notified of KYC requirement and those failing could find their accounts frozen until they complete the formalities.

“We will be sending another notice to the customer to update their KYC. There is a 90-day period from the date of the first notice to complete these formalities. Thereafter, we will freeze the account and it will be reactivated only after KYC formalities are completed,” he added.

In fact, a spate of sms’ and notices are being sent out by banks, asking customers to complete the KYC requirement. However, those does not mention any deadline.

The bank circular, seen by this website, puts the date of completion as January 2016. This could not be independently confirmed. However, a report in Arabic daily Al Ittihad, mentions a similar deadline.

As for associations, banks are asking them to fill the Ministry of Social Affairs approval number or the Amiri Decree number to have their transactions passed.