MyInfo made verification process easier than ever for the citizens of Singapore and thanks to BASIS ID every FinTech can now integrate this service into its platform.
Know Your Customer or simply KYC remains one of the biggest pains for FinTech companies. On the one hand, Due Diligence has tremendous benefits. It prevents money laundering, financial scams and other fraudulent activity. On the other hand, it scares many customers off. Imagine it yourself. Let’s say you wanted to take a quick loan but instead of “quick” you are required to:
- Enter your demographic data;
- Scan your documents;
- Do a video check (and sometimes a liveness check);
- Provide a proof of address;
- Wait until compliance officers or algorithms have validated your data.
Even those who trust KYC providers still get tired of repeating this process again and again for different organizations. Many startups have tried making the onboarding process as seamless as possible but Singapore’s government made a drastic improvement in personal data management by launching MyInfo in 2016. This has given its citizens a new way to go through the verification process.
What is MyInfo?
MyInfo is a solution designed by the Singaporean government that allows its citizens and permanent residents to store and manage their personal data. Users can enter the platform and give their consent to share their personal data, which is pulled from different governmental databases. After doing that, they will have an option to use MyInfo to populate forms with data while going through the onboarding process.
It means that people who use MyInfo will never have to answer boring questions while taking loans, opening bank accounts or using other FinTech services. Moreover, they will not need to scan their documents or go through a liveness check during the onboarding process. MyInfo’s data is also more secure and reliable as it is government-verified, making this verification method superior to others.
Why Would FinTechs Want to Integrate MyInfo?
Originally MyInfo was created to facilitate governmental services, however, in 2017 MyInfo Developer & Partner Portal was launched. It is a part of the National Digital Identity (NDI) ecosystem, which helps businesses integrate MyInfo into their digital solutions.
Before the launch of MyInfo Developer & Partner Portal, it was tested on 4 banks:
- United Overseas Bank (UOB),
- Development Bank of Singapore (DBS),
- Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC),
- Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart).
On average MyInfo integration reduced the time users spend on the application process by 80%. Furthermore, the approval rate increased by 15% thanks to the superb data quality of MyInfo platform.
Government Chief Information Officer Chan Cheow Hoe commented: “With MyInfo made available to a wider range of business transactions, we can help remove the need to verify documents, and even reduce time spent on face-to-face meetings. This significantly improves business efficiency as companies can onboard their customers faster.”
What’s the best way to integrate MyInfo?
The easiest way to integrate MyInfo into a platform is to use BASIS ID solution. BASIS ID is the first eKYC provider that has integrated MyInfo into their verification workflow.
Why is it so amazing?
Integration of the BASIS ID customer onboarding software with MyInfo workflow is performed via a web-and-mobile friendly widget and can be completed in minutes.
Users who are from Singapore can choose to use MyInfo instead of filling out the form, taking pictures of their documents and doing the video check. It saves a lot of time for users while still giving them an option to go through the KYC process manually or to edit necessary fields.
Here’s how it looks like:
First, users need to select their language. After that, they are immediately offered 2 ways to complete the KYC process. If they choose MyInfo method, then they get redirected to SingPass platform, where they will need to log in and consent to share their data. Then users have an opportunity to check their data inside the BASIS ID widget. There they also can edit their data and if it needs to be verified, BASIS ID will ask for all the necessary proof, be that an ID, phone confirmation or a bank statement. This ensures flexibility for a user as well as the credibility of the data.
MyInfo has revolutionized verification process in Singapore, while BASIS ID made it accessible for everyone.
Singapore is the first nation, which enabled businesses to access personal data of its citizens. We hope that this will not be an exception and we will see a trend, where more and more countries create similar systems. This will boost the development of banks and FinTechs as well as significantly reduce fraudulent activity among the citizens.