To understand KYC meaning, you have to know that it stands for “know your customer” or “know your client”. This has become a standard set of checks in all financial service industries and ensures banks, finance companies and the like that they have the latest information and details pertaining to their clients. KYC is a system that keeps finance organizations safe as well as customers. Services know the current information about clients, and this helps to advise clients on financial decisions, and clients feel that this information helps services do their job well. Basically, KYC includes anything about a customer, and is a customer profile, with details such as the latest address, contact numbers and other financial information like investment data and such.

What is KYC?

The Reserve Bank of India, India’s premier bank, since 2004, has made it mandatory for all Indian banks, financial organizations,etc, to verify the identity and other customer details of all customers who have to carry out any kind of financial transactions. The aim of the Reserve Bank of India in making the KYC procedure compulsory was to potentially guard against any fraudulent financial activity such as money laundering on any financial platforms. The KYC document is a form that customers must periodically fill out, updating their information so that information with the institution concerned remains current. This is an efficient way to make the process of customer authentication seamless and banks and finance institutions benefit from updated details.

How to Update your KYC

Customers have to submit KYC documents (verifying their details like address and identity) before they begin any investment procedures, like fixed deposits, mutual funds, demat accounts, bank accounts, etc, with a bank/finance institution. This is typically an online process for a KYC update through the bank’s/organization’s website or portal. The digital process for updating KYC is the following:

• Log into your organization’s online portal.
• You will see a button labelled “update KYC”.
• Click on this button and it will likely let you access any KYC preferences set before.
• Update any fields that need to be updated. You can upload supporting scanned documents for verification.
• Before you save your information and it goes for verification, you will get a one-time password (OTP) that comes to your registered phone or email. Then you will have to enter the OTP and finally submit the details. You will be informed that your details have been updated in the system.

KYC Update Offline

You can also update your KYC details offline at the bank or finance company in question.  This is a one-time initial process, but updates are regularly required, yearly usually, and you may have to refill basic forms and submit updated information. In case you change your own details like your name or your address/contact details, you will have to go through a process of updating a KYC document intermittently, letting your banking or finance organization know of recent changes in your profile.

Documents Required for KYC Update

To update your KYC, you need to provide the following documents:

• Aadhaar Card/Pan Card for proof of identity/any other official photographic ID card
• Aadhaar Card/Passport/utility bills (maximally 3 months old)/Driving License/any official document for proof of address

It is mandatory that you have an Aadhaar Card and Pan Card in India, and this is not only for KYC document updating, but also if you wish to indulge in any banking transactions. You can get more information about how to update your KYC details at the valuable Finserv MARKETS portal.