Undocumented residents without a citizen service number (BSN) in the Netherlands have no access to public services such as legal aid, support for mental health issues or municipal facilities. They also often cannot open a bank account due to the lack of a BSN, which means they are unable to make digital payments almost anywhere. As a result, they face severe restrictions in their daily lives and are excluded from many services and opportunities that others take for granted.
Exclusion because of the lack of a BSN
Through the Trust-based Banking project, Waag Futurelab, in collaboration with Here to Support, has investigated how community vouching, within the framework of the legislation for undocumented migrants, can offer the possibility of opening a bank account. Not having a bank account leads to further exclusion and unsafe situations. As they can only be paid in cash, they end up carrying large amounts of cash in their pockets. Additionally, paying in cash is becoming less and less of an option for essential services: on public transport, in supermarkets, in many shops and in the hospitality sector.
There are organisations that are trying to increase the financial freedom of undocumented migrants through coupons or limited-use debit cards. Unfortunately, this in turn creates new obstacles. For this reason Waag and Here to Support investigated whether ‘community vouching’ could be used as a means of verification. In this way, civil society organisations and reception centres act as so-called ‘verifiers’ within a voucher system.
The KYC obligation for banks
But why is a BSN actually required to open a bank account? Pourya Omidi, researcher at Waag, explains:
“Banks in the Netherlands require a citizen service number when opening a bank account, even though the law does not explicitly require this. In accordance with regulations, banks must know who their customers are and where they live – this is known as Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.”
According to Omidi, it is precisely this KYC verification that offers space to explore whether civil society organisations can play a role in establishing a person’s identity and place of residence: “In our project, we investigated how an adapted KYC process, based on community vouching, could be implemented. How can existing aid organisations and agencies that are in contact with someone without the correct documents vouch for the fact that that person is a resident of a city?”
A system of trust
The idea behind community vouching is not new. Similar systems have already been set up in New York and Barcelona, enabling undocumented migrants to gain access to a bank account. In such a system, organisations that know and trust a person can take on part of the verification process.
Omidi emphasises that the term ‘undocumented’ does not always do justice to the situation of this group: “We prefer to speak of ‘under-documented’. People often do have documents, such as a passport from their country of origin, with which they can verify their identity.” The research carried out by Waag and Here to Support then focused on the question of how such a system could be set up in practice whilst respecting the privacy and security of all those involved. “In close collaboration with Here to Support, we have designed a privacy-friendly prototype that enables undocumented migrants to verify their identity and residence without setting up a central database.”
Follow-up in Amsterdam: motion and potential pilot
Building on the results of this research, a motion was passed last year by the Amsterdam City Council to investigate how such a system could be implemented. This marks a first step towards the potential application of community vouching in Amsterdam. Omidi hopes the research will be followed up: “Following the adoption of the motion, we hope that Waag and Here to Support, together with the City of Amsterdam, banks and a group of undocumented migrants, can continue the research in a follow-up phase, for example through a pilot study.”