Circular No. 94/2022: Linking and Inquiring about Natural Customer Identity on the Civil Registry

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Palestine Monetary Authority
PALESTINE MONETARY AUTHORITY

Circular No. (94 / 2022)
To all specialized lending institutions operating in Palestine Date: Monday, April 18, 2022

Subject: Linking and Inquiring about Natural Customer Identity on the Civil Registry

In its commitment to providing neutral and reliable sources and a centralized database to facilitate obtaining the necessary data for establishing and maintaining business relationships and accessing financial services, and to enable financial institutions in the future to transition towards digital ID adoption, and to strengthen the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) environment, mitigate risks to financial institutions, implement electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) principles, and contribute to identifying and verifying customer identity and core data integrity in alignment with Recommendation 10 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior. This MoU aims to enable supervised financial institutions to inquire about citizens' core identity data from the Civil Registry. In this regard, lending institutions are requested to take immediate steps to utilize the inquiry service provided via the Credit Systems link at the Palestine Monetary Authority.

First: Inquiry on the Civil Registry.

1. Lending institutions must take necessary measures to inquire about customer identity and core data from the Civil Registry, at a minimum when customers apply for facilities or financing, and whenever there is doubt regarding the validity of customer identity data.
2. Obtain customer authorization to inquire about their identities and core data on the Civil Registry.
3. The inquiry report response for a citizen's ID number on the Civil Registry includes the citizen's photograph and core data, specifically: (Personal ID number, First name,

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1 www.pma.ps
Ramallah & Al-Bireh Governorate - Palestine P.O. Box 452 | Tel: +970 2 2415251 | Fax: +970 2 2415310 | Gaza - Palestine P.O. Box 4026 | Tel: +970 8 2825713 | Fax: +970 8 2844487 | Gaza - Palestine | info@pma.ps

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Father's name, Grandfather's name, Surname, Mother's name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Gender, Marital Status, Religion, Place of Issue, Date of Issue, Vital Status ("Alive" or "Deceased"), Spouse's Name, Spouse's ID Number, Names of Minor Children and their ID Numbers).
4. Customer identity and core data are inquired from the Civil Registry at the Ministry of Interior by following these steps:

• Access the Credit Systems link.
• Enter username and password.
• Click the Ministry of Interior Inquiry icon.
• Click Ministry of Interior Data Inquiry.
• Enter the customer's Personal ID number and full four-part name.
• Click Execute Ministry of Interior Inquiry to process the inquiry.

5. The Civil Registry inquiry response must be saved within the customer's facilities and financing file.

Second: Granting Permissions.
Lending institutions are responsible for taking the necessary measures for the following:

1. Grant inquiry permissions for customer identity and core data to employees working in credit facilities and financing, compliance, and AML/CFT roles.
2. Submit requests to grant inquiry permissions to employees in the aforementioned roles, in accordance with the mechanism applied on the Palestine Monetary Authority's Credit Information Office systems and Circular No. (2016/155) requirements.
3. Suspend inquiry permissions for any employee whose services are terminated, resignation is accepted, or who is transferred to a role that does not require such permissions.

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2 www.pma.ps
Ramallah & Al-Bireh Governorate - Palestine P.O. Box 452 | Tel: +970 2 2415251 | Fax: +970 2 2415310 | Gaza - Palestine P.O. Box 4026 | Tel: +970 8 2825713 | Fax: +970 8 2844487 | Gaza - Palestine | info@pma.ps

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Third: Oversight of Inquiry Operations.
Each institution must fully commit to overseeing the inquiry operations conducted by its employees on the Civil Registry, ensuring the confidentiality of customer and citizen data and preventing misuse of permissions beyond their intended purpose. This will be achieved by utilizing the report provided for this purpose, titled "Follow-up Report on Executed Inquiries".

Fourth: Reporting to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) Department. The institution's management must report in writing and immediately via the department's official email AML-CFT@PMA.PS to the AML/CFT Department at the Palestine Monetary Authority upon becoming aware of any of the following situations:

1. Any misuse by employees of granted permissions, and the administrative or disciplinary measures taken or to be taken regarding them.
2. Crimes of fraud, forgery, or counterfeiting of the personal ID card image or its data following the execution of the Civil Registry inquiry.
3. Cases of inquiring about Palestinian ID numbers that do not originally exist on the Civil Registry.
4. Notification to relevant official authorities regarding cases involving fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, invalidity of personal ID card data or the photographed individual's image on the inquiry system, and/or absence of data on the Civil Registry for the inquired personal ID number; accompanied by copies of police reports and supporting documents.

Fifth: Inquiry Fees.

1. Lending institutions shall pay an inquiry fee of three shekels per inquiry transaction.
2. Lending institutions are granted an incentive trial period to pay a fee of one shekel per inquiry transaction, as an exception, until June 30, 2022.

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3 www.pma.ps
Ramallah & Al-Bireh Governorate - Palestine P.O. Box 452 | Tel: +970 2 2415251 | Fax: +970 2 2415310 | Gaza - Palestine P.O. Box 4026 | Tel: +970 8 2825713 | Fax: +970 8 2844487 | Gaza - Palestine | info@pma.ps

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3. The Palestine Monetary Authority will reconcile inquiry statements and records with the Ministry of Interior, and subsequently issue a written demand to the lending institution to settle monthly inquiry fees into the PMA's account at Cairo Amman Bank, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. Fees must be settled within a maximum period of the first week of the following month, via internal transfer or financial remittance to the account specified in the PMA's demand.
4. Lending institutions must immediately notify the Palestine Monetary Authority in writing via email to: aabujaber@pma.ps confirming the settlement of monthly fees.
5. Lending institutions are prohibited from charging customers any direct or indirect additional fees, commissions, or charges resulting from inquiry transactions conducted on the Civil Registry.

[Signature]
Supervision Group
Palestine Monetary Authority

Copy: To the esteemed Ministry of Interior

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4 www.pma.ps
Ramallah & Al-Bireh Governorate - Palestine P.O. Box 452 | Tel: +970 2 2415251 | Fax: +970 2 2415310 | Gaza - Palestine P.O. Box 4026 | Tel: +970 8 2825713 | Fax: +970 8 2844487 | Gaza - Palestine | info@pma.ps