India to Launch Shared KYC Platform
Indian banks and insurance companies are expected to begin using a common customer verification platform in August 2026, allowing customers to access financial products without repeatedly submitting the same identity documents.
The upgraded system, known as Central Know Your Customer 2.0, will enable financial institutions to retrieve verified customer information from a central registry after obtaining the individual’s consent. Asset management companies, mutual funds and brokerages are expected to join the platform later.
Customers will provide consent through a one-time password before a financial institution can access their records. This could simplify account opening, insurance purchases and investment onboarding while reducing paperwork and repeated verification.
India’s existing central KYC registry contains around 1.2 billion customer records, but its wider use has been limited by duplicated entries, incomplete information and concerns about data accuracy. Under the new platform, records will include a confidence score indicating the reliability of the information and whether it has been verified by a financial institution.
The system is being developed by Protean eGov Technologies and is being implemented with the involvement of the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
The platform is also expected to support fraud prevention by making it easier for institutions to monitor customer information across the financial system. Near real-time updating of records could further reduce inconsistencies and strengthen compliance controls.
Industry executives believe shared KYC could expand participation in insurance, mutual funds and pension products by making customer onboarding faster and more convenient. Although approximately 89% of Indian adults held bank accounts in 2024, participation in other financial products remains comparatively low.
The effectiveness of the platform will depend on customer consent, data security, privacy safeguards and the ability of institutions to integrate their systems with the central registry.
