As part of Singapore’s initiative towards being a Smart Nation by leveraging technology to serve the nation better, MyInfo, a consent-based identity profile platform for Singaporeans or permanent residents, was launched by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Ministry of Finance in May last year.
MyInfo pulls data of an individual from seven public agencies which include:
• Personal information such as NRIC and date of birth
• Contact information
• Income & CPF Transactions history
• Employment & Education information
• Family members information
Users of MyInfo may no longer need to fill up physical forms and provide scanned copies of their identity documents as it will be automatically retrieved at a click of a button located on online forms of participating companies. Consent will be sought from users before data is transferred and users can choose to be alerted should any e-service use their personal data.
Four Banks Tapping MyInfo
OCBC, United Overseas Bank, DBS and Standard Chartered started tapping MyInfo yesterday, and users of MyInfo no longer have to key in details when opening bank accounts. The four banks have plans in the future to allow customers applying for home loans or credit cards online.
MyInfo will save time and data entry errors. Compliance professionals involved in the onboarding vetting process will now know that these customers are verified by the Singapore Government and will improve efficiency in the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process.
Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a November speech last year that KYC is one of the biggest pain points in the financial industry and the process is costly, laborious, and hugely duplicative. MyInfo’s creation is a national-level “infrastructure solution.”
Currently, MyInfo has 145,000 sign-ups so far, and the Singapore Government aims to expand the platform to more banks and the insurance sector.
Leave a Reply