In line with its Vision 2030 goal to become a cashless society, the Kingdom of Bahrain offers a wide range of electronic payment solutions that enable transactions to take place quickly, conveniently and safely.
The major eWallet solutions in Bahrain include stcPay, BenefitPay and Max Wallet by Credimax. The Kingdom of Bahrain is in the process of implementing the eWallet solution as one of the official payment methods on the National Portal.
Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC)
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) recently announced the launch of eKYC by financial institutions in the Kingdom as part of its initiatives for the digital transformation of the sector. The move follows the announcement of the national digital identity and the electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) platform in 2019.
The national eKYC platform, the first of its kind in the region to target retail banks, financial services providers and money exchange networks, is operated by Benefit in collaboration with the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) and under the supervision of the CBB. It provides a national digital identity database for financial institutions to securely verify the identities of their customers, validate their information, and share data digitally before providing products and services.
This includes retrieval of customer data from governmental entities, including IGA. Benefit has also developed an Application Programming Interface (API) for the platform, which allows for seamless integration with financial institutions core systems, digital channels and mobile apps. The introduction of Open Banking in Bahrain also provides an opportunity for fintech companies to verify customers’ identities through their online and mobile applications.
