Mr. Salman Sufi, Head, Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms had a virtual meeting with PBA to discuss the progress on the PBA eKYC project. SBP’s two directors (M/s Akhtar Javed & Syed Jehangir Shah) also attended the meeting.
The meeting was held on June 22, 2022 in which CEO PBA, Mr. Tawfiq Hussain briefed the Advisor about the background of the initiative and the progress made till Proof of Concept conducted by the Tech company Avanza Innovation. The Advisor termed the project as a welcome initiative and wished its early roll out preferably in six months. Mr. Tawfiq Hussain explained that a Working Group is actively involved in the project which is being overseen by a Steering Committee comprising of four heads of banks and a Director of SBP. However, being an innovative and complex project, it could take time beyond one year after initialization.
The Advisor then asked about any governmental support for the project. It was apprised that enabling provision under the Banking Companies Ordinance is necessary for success of this project. The Advisor informed that he will discuss this point with SBP and will require a draft of amendments for processing at the government end.