Stay compliant and onboard customers faster in Malawi

With Smile ID, you can quickly verify identities and stay compliant with digital KYC and data regulations in Malawi.

Country overview

Malawi is a member of both the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) AND East and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) and has made strides towards bringing its KYC/AML regulations to a global standard.

Regulatory overview

KYC/AML regulations

AML/KYC regulations in Malawi are enforced by a number of regulators including the:

Reserve Bank of Malawi, and
Malawian Financial Intelligence Authority

The primary KYC/AML regulation in Malawi is the Financial Crimes Act of 2017.

Data protection regulations

While Malawi does not have active data protection laws or a regulatory agency, there are personal data provisions under the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act No. 33 of 2016

The act mandates the obtaining of consent before the processing or transfer of customer data. In addition, users retain the right to request the deletion of their data.

Accurately verify users in Malawi

Stay compliant, prevent fraud and streamline your user verification process for your customers in Malawi and across other African countries with Smile ID. Verify users with confidence with:

The most extensive ID coverage on the continent

99.8% recognition accuracy for faces of all skin tones

A solution that is compatible with any device

Documents we verify in Malawi

Give users the flexibility to verify their identity using any of the following ID documents. All we need is a document photo and a selfie.

Malawian National ID

The National Registration Bureau issues national ID cards that double as the primary form of identification for KYC

Malawian Passport

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services issues passports that can be used as a KYC document

Malawian Driver’s License

Driver’s licenses issued by the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services can be used to verify the identity of holders.

Malawian Resident Card

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services issues resident cards to foreigners living in the country. This document can be used to verify their identity.

Verify Malawians using ID documents

Verifying users with ID documents and biometric face matching is one of the most reliable ways to determine a user's true identity. Our ID document verification solution checks that an ID document is authentic, accurately transcribes the text on the document and compares a user-submitted selfie to the document image. Onboard users anywhere in seconds with only a document image and a selfie.

Transcribes document text with 96% accuracy

Checks for accurate format

Identifies tampered and forged documents

Verifies security features

Scan your document

Our image capture tool guides users to take clear photos even with older devices.

Smile for a selfie

We ensure a real user is behind the camera by asking them to smile to test for liveness.

Get real-time results

In a few seconds, we will confirm the document is authentic and belongs to the user.