KYC Exchange Net (KEN) was launched in January to provide the banking industry with a shared communication platform for the mutual exchange of KYC data. It is competing with a host of other up-and-coming utilities from Swift, Thomson Reuters and Markit to secure bank support for its approach.

Emmanuel de Bouard, managing director cash clearing services at Société Générale, says of the decision to sign up with KYC Exchange: "While there are many solutions being developed around KYC, we really value the fact that the KEN platform of KYC Exchange Net AG is already available. They entered the market at exactly the right time and we were involved at a very early point in the development. As a result of the successful testing phase, the next logical step was to sign a contract with the team of KYC Exchange Net AG."

Banks pay a fee for the exchange of KYC information through the Web-based Software-as-a-service platform, which does not require any investment in terminals, special software or frequent system maintenance. The exchange of KYC data with a selected partner takes less than one minute and any update of previously shared KYC information is automatically forwarded to all previous recipients in real time.

Early user DZ Bank says that it requires some effort to complete the relevant templates and upload the correct data sets. "But it is worth it" says Frank Sperling, head of relationship management banks at DZ Bank, who adds that the bank has just started to send KYC data to its first partner banks.

He says: "Once you are online, the exchange of KYC data only takes a few seconds. If KYC Exchange Net now gains momentum in building up a large network it will have a good chance to become a "one stop shop"-solution for the KYC related regulatory requirements."