Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) has announced the launch of a ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) tool, known as VERIFI aimed to bring Namibia into the digital sphere of telecommunications.
MTC’s Chief Human Capital, Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer, Tim Ekandjo, at a media conference on Tuesday, said that VERIFI will allow for accurate registration of sim cards and eliminate the risk of presenting false identification during the sim registration process.
He said after the SIM Registration Regulations were published, MTC realised that the VERIFI tool would cover the SIM Registration requirements, so MTC is using the VERIFI tool to assist in SIM Registration.
“MTC understands that the provision of biometric data is classified as personal data, and the VERIFI tool is run in accordance with the draft Namibian Data Protection Bill, as well as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the African Union (AU) Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection,” he said.
According to the draft Namibian Data Protection Bill, the AU Convention, and the GDPR, information obtained through VERIFI will not be shared with any other operator or institution without the express consent of the customers.
“In Namibia, the collection of biometrics is a process that has been in place with some of the medical aid funds, insurance, and financial industry space. MTC is not the first, nor will it be the last company to implement biometric registration. Other companies use biometric data to process tasks and as part of customer registration,” he said.
Ekandjo also stated that since the implementation of sim registration, MTC has seen an 80 per cent decrease in fraudulent activities, as customers can no longer purchase SIM cards without having them registered, and that VERIFI will allow for accurate registration of sim cards and eliminate the risk of presenting false identification during the sim registration process.
MTC is simply providing customers with the opportunity to have a digital identity, which will allow them to have greater protection over their identification, allow for easier verification, and reduce fraudulent activities, he said.