KYC in Qatar

Know Your Customer requirements in Qatar are set by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), with the QFCRA supervising the Qatar Financial Centre under Law No. 20 of 2019 on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. Regulated firms verify customers using the Qatar ID (QID) for residents and passports for non-residents, screen them against sanctions and PEP lists, assess risk and keep records for inspection.

Regulator and legal framework

KYC and AML obligations in Qatar are supervised by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), with the QFCRA supervising the Qatar Financial Centre. The primary legislation is Law No. 20 of 2019 on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, aligned with FATF recommendations and supplemented by regulator instructions on customer due diligence, record keeping and electronic onboarding.

Identity documents used

Customers are typically verified with the Qatar ID (QID) for residents and passports for non-residents. Automated verification checks the document's authenticity, reads its data, including non-Latin scripts where present, and matches the holder biometrically with liveness detection.

Points to note

• The QID is the primary document for residents and carries machine-readable data.
• QCB has set expectations for digital onboarding by banks and payment providers.
• Telecom operators apply identity verification for SIM registration under CRA rules.
• Names appear in Arabic and Latin scripts, so transliteration-aware matching matters for screening.

How IDWise supports KYC in Qatar

IDWise configures journeys, document rules, screening lists and retention per market, with deployment and residency options on AWS, GCP and Azure or a hybrid model with data stored on customer premises.

Frequently asked questions

Related terms