About Us News Training Events Publications Collaborations Home Banking BankingNews Draft amendment to the regulation on banks' remote identification and contract relationship published 31 August 2022 The BRSA (Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency) published the “Draft Regulation Amending the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to Be Used by Banks and the Establishment of Contractual Relationships in Electronic Environment” on its official website. The announcement on the subject contained the following statements: “As is known, the “Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to Be Used by Banks and the Establishment of Contractual Relationships in Electronic Environment”, prepared by our Agency for the remote customer onboarding by banks of natural persons and natural person merchants who hold a Turkish Republic Identity Card, entered into force on 1/5/2021. This time, our Agency has prepared the “Draft Regulation Amending the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to Be Used by Banks and the Establishment of Contractual Relationships in Electronic Environment” in order to enable legal entities to become customers through remote customer onboarding and to enable digital banks to onboard legal entity customers. Click the link below to access the Draft Regulation.” The PDF file downloaded when the link is clicked contained the following: “DRAFT REGULATION AMENDING THE REGULATION ON REMOTE IDENTIFICATION METHODS TO BE USED BY BANKS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS IN ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT ARTICLE 1- Subparagraph (g) of the first paragraph of Article 3 of the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to Be Used by Banks and the Establishment of Contractual Relationships in Electronic Environment, published in the Official Gazette dated 1/4/2021 and numbered 31441, has been amended as follows, and subparagraphs (k), (l), (m), and (n) have been added to the same paragraph. “g) Person: The natural person, natural person merchant, or the representative or representatives of a legal entity, for whom remote identification will be carried out, k) Central Registry Recording System (MERSIS): The Central Registry Recording System defined in Article 4 of the Trade Registry Regulation, l) Registry Gazette: The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette defined in Article 4 of the Trade Registry Regulation, m) Trade Registry Regulation: The Trade Registry Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 27/1/2013 and numbered 28541, n) Legal entity: The commercial companies regulated in the Turkish Commercial Code dated 14/2/2011 and numbered 6102” ARTICLE 2- The following paragraph has been added to Article 4 of the same Regulation, to follow the eighth paragraph. “(9) The remote identification process is designed in accordance with Article 4 of the Regulation on the Accessibility of Banking Services, published in the Official Gazette dated 18/6/2016 and numbered 29746. The controls specified in this Regulation are established according to the disability status of persons with disabilities.” ARTICLE 3- The first paragraph of Article 6 of the same Regulation has been amended as follows. “(1) In the remote identification process, before the video call begins, the person's application is received through an electronically completed form in the bank application in which the remote identification process is run, and a risk assessment is carried out on the person and the legal entity using the data obtained. If necessary as a result of the risk assessment, the process is terminated without starting the video call.” ARTICLE 4- The third paragraph of Article 7 of the same Regulation has been amended as follows. “(3) Verification of the identity document is ensured by near field communication using the method specified in the second paragraph, or by checking the shape and content of at least four of the visual security elements of the identity document specified in the first paragraph. Where only the visual security elements are verified, the bank additionally requires that, before a continuous business relationship is established with the person, the first financial transaction be made from the person's own account, whether a natural person, natural person merchant, or legal entity, at another bank where the customer due diligence principles are applied.” ARTICLE 5- The following articles have been added to the same Regulation, to follow Article 7. “Verification of the person in the legal entity identification process ARTICLE 7/A – (1) In order to identify the legal entity, the person is identified in accordance with Article 7 of this Regulation, and it is verified that the person is authorized to represent the legal entity. Where there is more than one person authorized to represent the legal entity, this verification is not required to be carried out simultaneously. (2) The person's authority of representation is verified by matching the information obtained from the person with information obtained by querying databases of public institutions and organizations that are accessible to the bank, such as MERSIS and the Registry Gazette. (3) The customer representative may create photographs and/or screenshots showing the information on the signature circular presented by the person that demonstrates that the person is authorized to represent the legal entity. The signature specimen taken from the signature circular is compared with the signature specimen on the person's identity document. In addition, the existence of the signature circular, and the date and journal number on it, are confirmed by querying the database of the Union of Turkish Notaries. Documents that can be used in the identification of the legal entity and their verification ARTICLE 7/B – (1) In order to identify the legal entity, it is confirmed that the information about the legal entity obtained from the person matches other information obtained by querying databases of public institutions and organizations that are accessible to the bank, such as MERSIS, the Registry Gazette, and the database of the Revenue Administration. The title, trade registry number, field of activity, and address of the legal entity are verified through MERSIS and the Registry Gazette, and the tax identification number is verified through the database of the Revenue Administration.” ARTICLE 6- The fifth paragraph of Article 8 of the same Regulation has been amended as follows. “(5) The remote identification process is completed by informing the person, at the end of the video call stage of the remote identification, about the banking services to be provided and obtaining verbal consent from the person that the person or the legal entity will become a bank customer.” ARTICLE 7- The first paragraph of Article 11 of the same Regulation has been amended as follows. “(1) It is the bank's responsibility to ensure that the solutions used for remote identification are used in a way that minimizes the risk of misidentifying the person and the legal entity. The bank monitors customers it has identified through remote identification under a different risk profile. Additional security and control methods are applied depending on the type and amount of the transaction made by these persons. In the event of an objection to transactions that create obligations for the customer or a third party, the burden of proof lies with the bank.” ARTICLE 8- The following article has been added to Section 5 of the same Regulation, to follow Article 13, and the following articles have been renumbered accordingly. “Artificial intelligence-based applications ARTICLE 14 – (1) The Board is authorized to determine the procedures and principles for carrying out, by artificial intelligence-based methods, the transactions that are stated in this Regulation to be performed by the customer representative.” ARTICLE 9- This Regulation enters into force on the date of its publication. ARTICLE 10- The provisions of this Regulation are executed by the President of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.”
