Could the use of biometric data balance the e-money-customer due diligence equation?

Electronic money & customer due diligence

When electronic money (e-money) was introduced legislatively within the European Union the goals were threefold: to enable new, innovative and secure e-money services to be designed; to provide market access to new companies; and to foster real and effective competition between all market participants. As with most financial products, e-money is subject to Know Your Customer due diligence requirements (KYC). By its very nature, KYC tends to dampen product uptake especially when applied to low risk, low value e-money products.

One way forward may be to adopt KYC processes centred around biometric data. This article deals with the pros and cons of such a way.