Standard Chartered Bank has announced its intention to join Thomson Reuters Org ID regional managed service solution for Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence in South Africa.

Standard Chartered Bank said it is expected to go live towards the end of this quarter.

Thomson Reuters launched the African KYC managed service in July 2016 with design partner banks Barclays Africa, Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa. 

All four banks are committed to using the Org ID service to perform KYC and wider due diligence on their populations of corporate and institutional banking clients. 

Earlier this year, Standard Chartered Bank completed an initial review and proof of concept with Thomson Reuters Org ID to review their customer on-boarding approach in South Africa.

“For a global bank like ours with a growing regional presence, remaining competitive and making it easy for our clients to do business with us requires a simplified and innovative approach to client on-boarding and data management. Industry collaboration through managed service solution is an opportunity for banks to address operational challenges and improve client experience,” said Stephen Priestley, regional Head of Global Banking – Africa, Middle East and Pakistan, Standard Chartered Bank. 

“Our local and global teams conducted rigorous operational and compliance due diligence of the African KYC managed service, and the Proof-of-Concept satisfied our requirements. We are pleased to be joining the service with three other well-known financial institutions in Africa,” he added.

As part of its commitment to the service in Africa, Thomson Reuters is working closely with the design partner banks, adapting the service to incorporate specific regulatory requirements in South Africa.

Sneha Shah, MD, Africa, Thomson Reuters, said: “We are very pleased that Standard Chartered Bank is coming on board, leveraging our African KYC managed service for its regional clients.” 

“When we and the original three design partner banks launched the managed service for Africa last summer, we anticipated significant traction from both local and international banks operating in South Africa. That adoption is coming to pass, and we expect this trend to continue into 2018.”

Since its 2014 launch, Thomson Reuters Org ID KYC solution now serves 26 major financial institutions and asset management firms, manages over 350,000 KYC records and publishes more than 1.25 million continuously refreshed legal entity profiles in over 140 countries, helping customers accelerate their client on-boarding, comply with regulation, reduce costs and improve client experience.