Mumbai, Sept 5 (KNN)  Given that the general public continues to face problems in opening bank accounts despite several measures initiated by the Reserve Bank of India to simplify KYC norms, the RBI has asked banks to give wide publicity to the same.

“The Reserve Bank of India, in the recent times, has been taking several measures to simplify KYC requirements to help the common man open bank accounts. It is, however, observed that despite such measures the general public is still facing problems in opening a bank account as these measures have not been given adequate publicity and the common man still lacks awareness on the basics of opening a bank account,” an official notification said yesterday.

In order to address these issues, create public awareness and give wide publicity to these KYC simplification measures, the apex bank has issued a press release together with a poster and a booklet comprising a few common questions relating to Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for opening bank accounts.

The same are available on RBI’s website: http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=31935.

In this regard, banks have also been advised to initiate steps to create awareness and give wider publicity by circulating the poster and booklet amongst all their branches.

Branches have been advised to make available the booklet to the customers/ general public and display the poster prominently in their premises.

Progress made in this regard would be reviewed by Reserve Bank in due course, it said, asking banks to ensure strict compliance of the instructions.  (KNN/ES)