For 2025 and 2026, the bank has shifted toward a digital-first approach for KYC compliance.

The National Bank of Georgia now enforces stricter oversight, which has led to several changes in BOG's onboarding and monitoring:

He finally reaches a human at Bank of Georgia’s “Complex Cases Unit” in Kutaisi. The agent whispers: “The form isn’t the problem. It’s the algorithm behind it. We have 300,000 people stuck in ‘enhanced due diligence.’ Half of them are legitimate. But we’re only allowed to clear 50 a day.”

The primary driver behind the updated KYC form is the intensifying pressure of international compliance standards. Georgia’s aspiration to integrate deeper into European and global financial markets—coupled with its status as a candidate country for EU membership—requires its largest bank to align with directives like the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) frameworks. The previous forms, often designed for a less digitized era, lacked granularity in identifying beneficial ownership and source of funds. The updated form closes these gaps. By demanding more precise data regarding the origin of assets and the purpose of accounts, Bank of Georgia protects its correspondent banking relationships with Western institutions. Without these updates, the bank risks de-risking measures from international partners, which could choke the flow of foreign investment and remittances into the country.

Based on the 2026 release notes, BOG plans to move to annual light updates (every June) and a full re-issuance every 3 years. The next major change is expected in 2028.