Banks and credit institutions are barred from processing payment requests of customers lacking complete ID information stored in the banks’ data center as of April 26, an official with the Central Bank of Iran said.
Mehran Mahramian, the CBI vice governor for innovative technology said the new restrictions are in line with improving transparency and security of transactions.
"From April 26 transactions via banks that lack proper ID requirements will be denied by the PAYA system," he wrote, referring to specially launched automated interbank clearing house. The main requirement from clients is the national ID number.
"The rule will not affect customers whose ID details are already registered," the CBI public relations website quoted Mahramian as saying.
Regulations to this end were in place years ago but not enforced because “the CBI needed [more] time to develop the infrastructure.”
Henceforth opening a bank account will be a cumbersome process, namely ID confirmation and about which law-abiding businesses are already complaining. The procedure was easier in the past because banks were in tough competition for customers, especially those with big money.
In the past two years the CBI announced rules to improve control over banks and their financial performance. It said the measures, among other things, was to ensure anti-money laundering measures, curb tax evasion and curtail speculation in financial markets, namely gold and foreign exchange.
The regulator says it is committed to preventing the unbridled circulation of money in the banking system. Earlier the central bank announced a daily cap for bank transactions of adult clients. The rule came into effect in 2020 and transactions via inter-bank systems were limited to one billion rials per person per day. Last September it restricted daily transactions for clients under 18 years up to 150 million rials.
Earlier the CBI compartmentalized individual and business accounts. In early 2020, it required individual customers to present documentary evidence for transactions above two billion rials at one bank in one day.
Valid Reasons
In addition, individual customers should state the reason for their transactions over the threshold when filling out bank forms. They also must “provide documents to show that the transaction is for a valid business deal, concluding a contract or other acceptable purposes.”
The regulator also set a daily cap of 1 billion rials on transactions via point-of-sale devices and limited the use of POS overseas.
According to Mahramian, the payment settlement network, Shaparak, blocked 4,500 POS machines used overseas in the past few months.
In collaboration with the Iranian National Tax Administration, the CBI is tightening controls over POS machines to detect dubious transactions and curb tax evasion.
Earlier in March, the CBI said it inactivated 2.5 million POS terminals across the country based on newly-passed tax regulations for POS terminals.
