Real-time KYC: Tipping the balance in corporate banking’s digital revolution

As corporate banking moves further into a digital-first era, real-time Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, powered by Corporate Digital Identity (CDI), are emerging as a powerful force for transformation. This innovation offers a unique opportunity to elevate customer experience, boost operational efficiency, and strengthen risk management. While implementing real-time KYC comes with challenges, the benefits far outweigh the hurdles, paving the way for a smarter, more agile future for financial institutions.

Real-time KYC: Driving digital transformation before it's too late
Achieving real-time KYC is essential for banks to stay competitive. Banks must act now, as this is a long-term journey requiring strategic planning, pilot programs, and incremental improvements. The time to start building core capabilities is today.

Transitioning to cloud infrastructure and embracing technologies such as automation, CDI, artificial intelligence (AI), optical character recognition (OCR), and data analytics are critical steps in this journey. These technologies can help overcome the limitations of legacy technology and will drive incremental benefits and improvements along the way.

By 2025, banks that have migrated key processes to the cloud and harnessed AI and data analytics will lead the industry. This shift will not only reduce manual processes and optimise costs but also turn KYC into a value-generating function.

Overcoming challenges to unlock real-time KYC
The promise of real-time KYC offers immense potential, and banks are already making notable progress in overcoming key challenges to realise this vision. A major step forward is the modernisation of legacy infrastructure. Many banks, shaped by mergers and acquisitions, are embarking on their digital transformation journey, focusing on system integration and enhancing data-sharing capabilities. By embracing more flexible and agile KYC policies, they are paving the way for improved efficiency and streamlined operations. Another exciting development is the focus on improving data quality. Real-time KYC relies on accurate and reliable data, and many banks are taking proactive steps to refine their data models and implement CDI technology. By prioritising key information in their data models, they are creating a stronger foundation for better risk assessment.

By adopting real-time KYC banks are also successfully balancing efficiency with regulatory compliance. While continuous monitoring of customer data is essential, institutions are becoming adept at ensuring that checks and requests for information are both relevant and non-intrusive. This thoughtful approach is helping build stronger relationships with clients while maintaining compliance.

By 2025, we will likely see more banks taking a step forward in their digital transformation journey by running initiatives designed to address these challenges. Effective change management, strong regulatory partnerships, and scenario-based testing will remain critical to achieving scalable, sustainable solutions.

The role of data privacy and digital identity
Looking ahead to 2025, data privacy and digital identity will reshape KYC processes. Advancements in data protection regulations and digital identity technologies will reshape KYC processes, ensuring greater security and customer control over personal information.

Decentralised identity systems, where clients have more control over the sharing of their data, are expected to become more common. This technology can enable clients to share only the necessary information for KYC checks, improving privacy and security. Additionally, advancements in data encryption will better protect sensitive customer data from breaches, building greater trust between banks and their clients.

2025 is the year banks must strike an appropriate balance between data privacy and regulatory compliance. We are seeing growing industry collaboration between regulators, financial institutions, and lawmakers, which is necessary to avoid unintended consequences, such as limiting access to essential business ownership registries.

Client-centric KYC: transforming compliance into value
For corporate clients, repetitive KYC processes can be a source of frustration. However, banks that adopt CDI will be able to re-engineer processes for a more customer-centric approach to KYC and a significant competitive advantage. By streamlining processes and reducing the burden on clients, banks can improve both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency and move on from KYC being a necessary cost-centre.

Secure customer portals that allow corporate clients to share verified information across multiple banking relationships will transform the experience by reducing duplication and simplifying onboarding for clients who may need to interact with several financial institutions. By maintaining up-to-date customer profiles, banks can confidently make faster and more accurate, risk-based decisions without burdening clients with further requests for information.

In 2025, corporate clients will expect to be able to share verified information across multiple banking relationships, reducing duplication and simplifying onboarding. Banks that implement secure, client-friendly portals will offer a superior corporate banking experience and gain a competitive edge.

Emerging technologies shaping the future of KYC
Technology is the driving force behind KYC transformation in corporate banking. CDI, automation, AI, machine learning, decentralised identity solutions, cloud computing, and tokenisation of digital identities are all expected to play crucial roles in reshaping the landscape in the years to come.

Automation, AI and machine learning will continue to simplify complex data challenges, reducing manual workloads and allowing compliance teams to focus on higher value work. 
Cloud-based platforms will also provide banks with the scalability and flexibility needed to handle the demands of real-time KYC. These solutions will integrate various technologies seamlessly, making the transition to a fully digital KYC process smoother for financial institutions.

In the future, tokenisation of digital identities may become more common, providing a secure method for managing sensitive client data. While this requires regulatory alignment, tokenisation holds the potential to greatly improve identity management and reduce the risk of fraud.

Banks that do not have a clear roadmap to adopt and implement new technologies in 2025 run a very real risk of falling by the wayside as corporate clients seek out consumer-class experiences.

FinTech and RegTech partnerships: accelerating innovation
The opportunities for banks to partner with leading FinTechs and RegTechs are abundant and offer an accelerated path to transformation. These partnerships provide banks with access to innovative and constantly evolving technologies that address specific challenges of the KYC process.

Working with technology partners allow banks to achieve faster time-to-market and remain agile in the face of evolving regulations. Trusted collaborations will help banks create reliable, client-focused identity frameworks that reduce friction and enhance trust.

In the coming years, the trend of banks partnering with FinTechs and RegTechs is expected to accelerate, helping financial institutions stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive and regulated environment.

The road ahead
Real-time KYC must be a critical priority for corporate banking in 2025. The journey to fully implement these systems requires immediate action, incremental progress, and a commitment to adapting and embracing emerging technologies. While legacy infrastructure and data quality challenges remain, the long-term benefits of improved efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction will far outweigh any pain associated with large-scale transformation initiatives.

By embracing client-centric innovation such as CDI, partnering with FinTechs and RegTechs, and leveraging technologies like automation, AI, and cloud infrastructure, banks can redefine the role of KYC from a regulatory obligation to a competitive differentiator. In an era where trust is as critical as technology, real-time KYC isn't just an operational improvement —it's a blueprint for leadership in the financial industry. Those who act decisively today will shape the standards of tomorrow, earning not just compliance but lasting client loyalty and market relevance.