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Protecting Your Money: Understanding KYC and How it Fights Financial Crime

Are you concerned about financial cybercrime and want to know how your bank is protecting your money? Meet KYC – the ‘Know Your Customer’ standard that is essential in the fight against financial crimes. In this blog, we’ll explain what KYC is, why it’s mandatory for financial institutions, and how it works to keep your money safe.

What is KYC and Why is it Important?

KYC is a mandatory process that institutions like banks, advisors, stock traders, gambling companies, and governments use to verify their customers’ identity. It was first introduced in the US in the late 1990s as a way to combat financial crimes such as fraud and money laundering, and has since spread as the accepted global framework. The process includes ID card verification, document verification, and facial or biometric verification, and it’s crucial for financial institutions in understanding their customers and their transactions in order to identify suspicious activities and protect against crime.

How KYC Verification Works

KYC verification starts with customers filling out an online KYC registration form with their personal information. They then need to confirm this information by providing physical documents as evidence. These documents are then uploaded and verified to ensure they are authentic – this might be done with human document verification experts, or with sophisticated AI analysis software. Once verified, the financial institution can proceed with the verification process to ensure the documents have not been tampered with.

Documents Required for KYC

To prove their identity, customers must provide certain documents. These include:

  • Proof of identity: Birth certificate, passport, or driver’s licence (two separate documents are typically required – one for proof of name and one for proof of address).
  • Proof of address: Utility bill, bank statement, tenancy agreement, or council tax bill (must be less than three months old).
  • Proof of income: Salary statement, income tax return, or bank statement.

Together, all the documents supplied must meet at least 100 points of ID, though some institutions may ask for more.

Industries That Must Comply with KYC

Financial Services

The financial services sector is a prime target for criminals, leading to significant losses, loss of client confidence, and damage to industry reputation. KYC in banking is particularly important as this industry is at a higher risk of financial fraud and money laundering. Financial institutions must perform verification procedures for their customers to reduce fraudulent activities.

It’s not just new customers who are subject to KYC – existing customers must also periodically update their KYC information. By doing so, financial institutions can ensure that their customers are not involved in any financial crimes or criminal organisations. Additionally, KYC also helps prevent the financial institution from being used for money laundering or other illegal activities.

Gambling

The gambling industry has grown rapidly since the development of online gambling in the late 1990s. People are increasingly turning to online gambling as a way to have fun and potentially make some money. However, the gambling industry is not immune to financial crimes. To combat these illegal activities, many online gambling websites have implemented KYC systems.

KYC checks in online gambling sites can take up to 72 hours once the required documents are submitted by the gambler. By verifying their customers using KYC processes, gambling operators can prevent money laundering, terrorist funding, and other illegal financial activities. While some players may prefer anonymous gambling sites, these are becoming less common as authorities crack down and more operators adopt KYC policies.

Investments and Crypto Trading

Cryptocurrency has become a popular form of online payment since its introduction in 2009. However, the anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions can make it a potential haven for criminals. To minimise identity theft and fraud in crypto trading, many virtual asset service providers have established robust KYC policies.

KYC systems on crypto exchanges typically require new users to provide personal details such as legal names, ID cards, and up-to-date addresses. Additional documents may be required depending on the location and services provided by the exchange. By verifying users’ identities, investigators can track financial criminals and prevent illegal activities.

KYC and Docuvett

Docuvett is a powerful tool for facilitating KYC checks for both financial institutions and their customers. Docuvett allows users to securely upload their important identification documents one time, then provide access to them through the Docuvett platform rather than a webpage, email, or cloud sharing. This speeds up the process significantly for anyone applying for multiple products or services, as well as for the agents who might need to access the info multiple times throughout the setup process. Docuvett’s security features also ensure that nobody who might illegally gain access to a financial institution’s data will be able to access your documents.

In conclusion, KYC is a crucial tool in the fight against financial cybercrime. By understanding and complying with the standard, financial institutions can protect their customers’ money and prevent fraud and money laundering.

Hiring Made Easier: The Benefits of Document Confidence Providers

Introduction

When hiring new employees for large businesses, it’s crucial to verify the applicant’s identification, qualifications, and other official documents properly. In the past, this process involved the hiring manager or HR worker physically reviewing the paperwork to provide confidence that the document matches the applicant, the contents are true and the source reputable. However, with the rise of digital hiring in today’s remote-working world, digital documents are here to stay. So, how does one provide confidence for digital documents? Is it safe? Let’s take a look.

How Digital Document Confidence Provision Works

Digital document confidence provision is the process of using the Docuvett® platform to confirm the owner, veracity of the content, and the source. These digital documents might include driver’s licences, bank statements, university qualifications, or work visas – anything that needs to be proved official before employment can commence. The process ensures the individual owner of the document is verified using the government Digital ID system, the contents of the digital document are valid, and the source is correctly identified using a robust onboarding and checking system. 

The Benefits of Digital Document Confidence Provision

  1. Increased security: Digital document confidence provision can help HR professionals prevent fraud and identity theft by ensuring that the person submitting the document is who they claim to be and that the document has not been tampered with.
  2. Convenience: Digital document confidence provision allows for documents to be submitted and verified electronically, which can save time and make the process more convenient for both the person submitting the document and the organisation receiving it.
  3. Cost savings: Digital document confidence provision can help reduce cost by eliminating the need for in-person meetings or mail-in submissions.
  4. Efficiency: Digital document confidence provision can help streamline the process of verifying documents, making it faster and more efficient.
  5. Compliance: Many industries have regulations that require documents to be verified in a specific way, digital document confidence provision can help ensure compliance with these regulations.

Overall, digital document confidence provision can help organisations and individuals ensure the authenticity and integrity of electronic documents, while also providing a more convenient, cost-effective, and efficient process for document verification.

The Security of Digital Documents Online

While digital document confidence provision has many benefits, it’s important to consider the potential security concerns. Digital documents are especially vulnerable to cyber attacks and data breaches as they’re key pieces for identity theft, so it’s essential to ensure that the platform being used for verification has robust security measures in place. They must include encrypted data storage and transmission, and should also feature owner-controllable access limitations, activity logs, and two-factor authentication. It’s also important for companies to have policies in place that mitigate the risk of data breaches and to respond appropriately in the event that a breach does occur. By using a service like Docuvett® that takes these precautions seriously, companies can ensure that their digital document confidence provision is secure and protects the privacy of their employees both current, former, and soon-to-be.

Conclusion

In today’s remote-working world, new hires expect a streamlined and efficient onboarding process from their new employers. As a result, it’s important for companies to prioritise the speed of their document collection and verification process as a way to cut out the large amount of time traditional methods take up. By using digital document confidence provision, you can ensure that you’re hiring the right employees while also providing a positive onboarding experience. Docuvett provides the best platform for doing just that. To learn more about the specifics of what Docuvett has to offer, head over to https://docuvett.com.au/.