IRDAI has permitted insurance companies to offer video-based KYC for quicker and hassle-free insurance purchases. The regulator is allowing both life as well general insurance companies to use the Video-Based Identification Process (VBIP) for prospective customers with a view to enhance the ease of doing KYC and help the insurance sector which is battling the impact of covid pandemic. VBIP is a method of customer identification by a representative of the insurer by undertaking real-time, consent-based audio-visual interaction with the customer to obtain identification information, including the required documents, and to ascertain the veracity of the information furnished. The Reserve Bank of India has already amended the KYC norms, allowing banks and other lending institutions regulated by it to use video-based customer identification process. IRDAI said insurers may develop their app and undertake live VBIP, carried out by an authorized person of the insurer, for establishment, continuation or verification of an account-based relationship with an individual customer, after obtaining his informed consent. Amit Das, co-founder, Kwik.ID, a leading video KYC platform, said this is a progressive move by the regulator. The key, even as the country moves towards complete unlock, is to leverage technology as a way of moving forward while maintaining social distancing. VideoKYC is not just a KYC but a great onboarding innovation, he added. Monish Salot, also a co-founder and Chief Product Officer at the firm, added that video KYC will not only improve the convenience of buying insurance online but it will significantly reduce the identity fraud which tends to be a major reason for wiping off insurers’ profits.
