Qatar ID a must for bank transactions
Customers without updated Qatar ID on banks’ database may face service disruption in view of a new regulation by Qatar Central Bank (QCB) that insists on Qatar identification document for transactions.
Many customers have been contacted by local banks and asked to present an updated copy of their valid Qatar identification document in one of the branches across the country “within 60 days”.
“QCB regulation insists we hold an up-to-date Qatar ID in order to transact,” a senior banker told Gulf Times.
He said it was “clearly part of an initiative” to ensure that all banking transactions were genuine. Customers without proper Qatar ID will not be able to do banking transactions from now on.
Already, International Bank Account Number (IBAN) has become compulsory in Qatar for customers’ cross-border money transfers.
International Bank Account Number facilitates automatic processing of money transfers between countries which are IBAN-compliant. Banks will not process and reject transfers that do not contain a valid IBAN.
Customers can easily get International Bank Account Number from their respective banks in Qatar.
IBAN for Qatar comprises some 29 digits and contain the following information: country code, security digits, bank identifier code followed by customer’s current bank account number.
Local banks have also beefed up Internet banking security by insisting on one time password (OTP) or authorisation code for login.
A source said the OTP or the authorisation code was sent as a text message to the customer’s mobile number registered with the bank concerned.
The code is time-bound and expires in five minutes.
Customers using telephone banking are no longer able to pass on their account, credit or debit card number on phone as many local banks have stopped accepting it for “highest customer safety”.
Also, many local banks have introduced “telephone banking PIN” to ensure that only genuine customers avail of the facility.
But customers are free to amend their telephone banking PIN periodically.
“Customers dialling contact centres of various banks are now being asked a few questions for account verification,” an industry source said.
“Also, customers are not asked to furnish their account, credit card or debit card number or personal identification (PIN) details for their ATM facility,” the source said.
“We can pull out relevant data with a customer’s Qatar ID number. That’s what we expect a customer to provide us,” the source said.
Meanwhile, exchange firms across Qatar have stopped accepting driving licence as a proof of identification for expatriates’ cash transfer abroad.
“Expatriates need to provide their updated Qatar ID for transactions through exchange houses now,” an exchange firm official said.
Gulf TImes | Photo by Shoaib Shabir
