The National Bank of Malawi (NBM) has stood behind its fresh Know Your Customer (KYC) initiative saying it is part of its legal requirements.
This has been revealed by the Bank’s chief risk officer Charles Ulaya during a press conference in Lilongwe.
The exercise which requires the bank’s customers to update their personal details attracted public outcry amid arguments that they already carried out a similar exercise recently.
“Apart from being a legal and regulatory requirement, KYC is a good business practice as well to better understand objectives and suitability, and reduce risk from suspicious activities.
“This exercise is a requirement of our Anti Money Laundering / Combating the Financing of Terrorism policy as well as the Financial Crimes Act which require customers to update their information periodically,” Ulaya said.
He further confirmed that the exercise which the period for the exercise, which was set for expiry last Monday, has been pushed to 31 August 2023.
Ulaya also said that those who opened their accounts between 2021 and 2023 are exempted from undertaking the exercise.
Reported by Splendor Ngulube