Pakistan Banking Association develops blockchain platform for data exchange

The Pakistan Banking Association (PBA) has entered into an agreement with Avanza Group to establish a state-owned blockchain-based eKYC banking data exchange platform.

The project will be supervised by PBA led by the State Bank of Pakistan. Initiative aims to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing practices. The implementation of the platform will increase the efficiency of commercial banks by improving the quality of customer service, including when opening an account. This will expand access to banking services, the PBA assures.

The EKYC platform from Avanza Group will work on the basis of the blockchain. With it, banks will be able to share data more efficiently through a decentralized and self-regulating network that requires the consent of customers. In addition, all participating banks will be able to use the platform to evaluate existing and new customers based on data stored securely on the blockchain.

Previously, the Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan, Reza Bakir, called blockchain a useful technology that can solve many problems in the financial industry. The regulator has a different opinion about cryptocurrencies, believing that they can be used for money laundering.

At the end of last year, the Central Bank of Pakistan announced that it intends to prepare a law by 2025 to launch its own digital currency.