NEC XON has partnered with Azimut, a Wavetec company, to provide know your customer (KYC) turnkey self-service solutions throughout Africa that help telecoms and mobile operators identify and verify customer identities, without branch overheads, as they connect the next billion.

The fully integrated solution, which uses the world’s most advanced multi-modal biometric identification system for touchless data acquisition and verification, integrates with existing infrastructure and adapts to country-specific regulatory requirements.

“There are expected to be 600 million unique mobile Internet subscribers in Africa within the next two years. They will have 360 million smartphones and Internet-based revenues will climb from $18 billion to more than $300 billion in GDP contributions, according to GMSA. Those are customers who the African telecoms and mobile operators must serve. KYC and identity solutions for enrolment, sales and after-sales service, seamless digital self-service onboarding, SIM dispensing, card issuing, and automating cash-in, cash-out (CICO) transactions is the fastest, most cost-effective method to provide unprecedented customer experiences,” says Grahame Saunders, Head of Identity Management at NEC XON.

“Africa has the largest telecom and mobile money agent network in the world,” says Zia Siddiqui, Director of Wavetec Africa, “and the next stage of digitalisation is self-service SIM dispensing and mobile banking services. We are working with NEC XON to provide a seamless digital onboarding process with advanced KYC protocols. Our kiosks offer a consistent experience with 24-7 access to services.”

“NEC XON has developed an impressive digital KYC solution, with infrastructure and active deployments in the region which makes them the ideal choice for this partnership,” he adds. “This KYC solution helps telecoms and mobile money banking operators comply with legislation and cut costs, operational complexities, maximise time and resources usually assigned to issue SIM cards, other GSM, and mobile money-related services.”

NEC XON’s solution, built on Azimut, Wavetec’s technology, guides customers through the regulated personal data collection process, which includes biometric data. The solution validates customer identities to meet RICA requirements in South Africa. This same process also updates customer data to a central repository.

Flexibility is a key benefit.

“We can accommodate all relevant legislation throughout Africa through standard customisations that enable rapid deployment,” says Saunders. “The same system ensures rapid updates, ease of maintenance, and seamless integration with other systems such as national identification, immigration, social services, and others.”