Palestine Monetary Authority

PALESTINE MONETARY AUTHORITY

Circular No. (95/2022)

To all payment service companies 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 identity reliance, and to enhance the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing environment, mitigate risks to financial institutions, achieve electronic Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, and contribute to identifying and verifying customer identity and the integrity of basic data in line with FATF Recommendation No. (10), a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior to enable supervised financial institutions to inquire about citizens' basic identity data on the Civil Registry. In this regard, payment service companies are requested to take the necessary immediate steps to utilize the inquiry service provided via the Credit Information Systems link at the Palestine Monetary Authority.

First: Inquiry on the Civil Registry.

1. Payment service companies must take the necessary measures to inquire about customer identity and basic data from the Civil Registry, at a minimum upon relationship establishment and whenever there is doubt regarding the validity of customer identity data.
2. Obtain customer authorization to inquire about their identities and basic data on the Civil Registry.
3. The inquiry report response regarding a citizen's ID number on the Civil Registry includes the citizen's photograph and basic data, namely: (Personal ID number, Personal name,

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Palestine Monetary Authority

PALESTINE MONETARY AUTHORITY

Father's name, grandfather's name, family name, 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 and ID numbers of minor children).
4. Customer identity and basic data are inquired about from the Civil Registry at the Ministry of Interior by following these steps:
- Access the Credit Information Systems link.
- Enter username and password.
- Click the Ministry of Interior inquiry icon.
- Click Ministry of Interior inquiry data.
- Enter the customer's personal ID number and full four-part name.
- Click Execute Ministry of Interior inquiry to process the request.
5. The Civil Registry inquiry response is saved within the customer's file.

Second: Granting Permissions.

The company is responsible for taking the necessary measures for the following:

1. Grant inquiry permissions for customer identity and basic data to employees working in operations, compliance, and anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing roles.
2. Submit a written request to the Financial Stability Department at the Palestine Monetary Authority to provide inquiry permissions for employees in the aforementioned roles on the Authority's Credit Information Office systems.
3. Suspend inquiry permissions for any employee whose employment is terminated, resignation is accepted, or who is transferred to a role that does not require such permissions.

Third: Monitoring Inquiry Operations.

Each company must fully commit to monitoring the inquiry operations conducted by its employees on the Civil Registry to ensure the confidentiality of customer and citizen data, and to prevent misuse of permissions for purposes other than intended, 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 Department.

Company management must report in writing and immediately via the department's approved email address AML-CFT@PMA.PS to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Department at the Palestine Monetary Authority upon becoming aware of any of the following:

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

Fifth: Inquiry Fees.

1. An inquiry fee is charged to the payment service company for each inquiry transaction.
2. Payment service companies are granted an incentive trial period by paying a fee of one shekel per inquiry transaction, until June 30, 2022.
3. The Palestine Monetary Authority will review inquiry statements and records with the Ministry of Interior, then issue a written demand to payment service companies to settle monthly inquiry fees into the Authority's account at Cairo Amman Bank for the benefit of the Ministry of Finance. Fees must be settled within the first week of the following month, via internal transfer or financial remittance to the designated account per the Authority's demand.

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Palestine Monetary Authority

PALESTINE MONETARY AUTHORITY

4. Payment service companies must immediately notify the Palestine Monetary Authority in writing of monthly fee settlements to the following email address: aabujaber@pma.ps
5. Payment service companies are prohibited from charging customers any direct or indirect additional fees, commissions, or charges resulting from Civil Registry inquiry transactions.

Supervision Group
Palestine Monetary Authority

Copy: The Honorable Ministry of Interior

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Note:
The address and contacts in the footers are the same on all pages:

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