In order to protect Macau’s financial system and the interests of cardholders whose bank cards have been issued in the mainland, all ATM machines in Macau will have Know Your Customer (KYC), a compliance feature, the government announced on Monday.
According to Wikipedia, KYC is a process of a business identifying and verifying the identity of its clients. It also refers to the banking and anti-money laundering regulations which govern these activities.
According to a statement by the Government Spokesperson’s Office, the government will strengthen the supervision of mainland bank cardholders’ ATM transactions. The statement also said KYC features will soon be installed at all ATM machines in the city.
The statement said holders of bank cards issued in the mainland will be required to show their ID cards when they withdraw cash from ATM machines. However, holders of bank cards issued in Macau and places other than the mainland will not be affected by the new measure, according to the statement.
The statement pointed out that the government has implemented a raft of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance measures. It has also co-operated with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering’s (APG) evaluation procedures and followed the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) requirements when implementing such measures, according to the statement.
