AML and KYC compliance grows beyond banking

It has been a busy April for companies focusing on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) products, with adoption growing outside of the traditional core market of financial service providers.

Before digging into each announcement, we look at Shufti Pro’s latest webinar, which saw the company’s head of Asia Pacific, Barry Wong, discussing AML regulatory compliance and KYC practices from an enterprise perspective with Jeremy Platts, managing director of J Platts Consulting.

During the online session, Platts first discussed the early stages of AML compliance, which he said began with the introduction of AML laws in 1989 (through the establishment of the Financial Action Task Force), and the following expansion of the law in 1994 (Money Laundering Suppression Act) to embrace a broader range of offenses. That broadening continues today.

Events connected with 9/11 further spurred the need for AML regulation, according to the financial industry veteran, with governments realizing that financial systems had failed to detect terrorist activities due to inadequate regulations.

The Patriot Act, created in response to those events, introduced KYC laws and expanded the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 with new enforcement and requirements. Since then, Platts explained in the webinar; there has been a growing burden on financial institutions to comply with AML and KYC regulations. That same burden is also being extended to businesses in other verticals.

“If you look, the AML regulation law covers a much broader range of institutions that should be reporting,” Platts says, referring to Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, which include businesses in the real estate and gambling sectors.

Shufti Pro chosen by Iuvo

Companies providing various services online are signing up for selfie biometrics and regulatory checks to fulfill AML and KYC regulations in new markets, meanwhile.

Case in point, Shufti Pro has been selected by European P2P (peer-to-peer) platform Iuvo to tackle financial crime.

The firm’s model offers investors returns while allowing loan originators to take advantage of the P2P model to support their activities and bypass the need for an official financial institution as an intermediary.

“Eliminating financial fraud from Fintech markets and relevant industries is our biggest concern,” comments Shufti Pro CEO Victor Fredung. “For that, our team will put in every effort & hard work in providing the best of our IDV services and successful KYC compliance strategies to Iuvo.”

The partnership comes weeks after Shufti Pro launched its new bug bounty program.

Developer platform selects Jumio

Jumio is supplying facial authentication and other integrated technologies for customer onboarding as a strategic partner to developer platform Modyo.

Modyo provides a composable front-end platform for web applications. Case studies on its website indicate that Modyo’s customer base includes insurance providers and customer loyalty programs.

Customers of Modyo can use Jumio’s identity verification, risk assessment, eKYC and authentication technologies to secure and streamline their user onboarding processes, according to the announcement.

Veriff unveils identity verification product for gaming industry

According to a blog post published by Veriff director of global communications Karita Sall on Wednesday, the new offering streamlines the identity verification process for gamers while also establishing age-appropriate content rules.

“Veriff’s verification flow easily identifies if users meet age criteria by extracting the date of birth from a person’s government-issued identity document and using data to calculate their age,” Sall explains.

The new software can also reportedly prevent cheating, account takeovers, and multi-account practices. It also introduces face biometric authentication as an option for players to verify their identity upon login.

“The gaming universe is constantly evolving, presenting an increasing number of opportunities for gaming platforms, but also significant challenges when it comes to trust online,” says Veriff co-founder and CPO Janer Gorohhov.

“With Veriff’s latest identity verification capability, we help our customers build trust within their gaming communities and create a safer gaming world for users and video gaming platforms alike.”

Ondato brings KYB protection to Poland

The London-based firm launched an expanded Know Your Business (KYB) offering designed to give local and international firms operating in Poland automated tools for business customer onboarding compliant with the new Polish sanctions regime and the European Union’s 5th AML Directive (5 AMLD).

In a release shared with Biometric Update, Ondato says the new extended coverage provides complete data about Polish entities, including updated sanctions lists.

Further, the software infrastructure reportedly enables online banks, electronic money institutions (EMIs), credit institutions, cryptocurrency marketplaces, gambling services companies, and legal and audit advisors, among others, to verify the legal status and compliance of customers in Poland.

“We have enabled the safe automation of customer onboarding processes, removing the burden of manual KYB verification,” comments Ondato CEO Liudas Kanapienis.

“Ondato’s automated KYB verification puts our customers in the fast lane, where they can overtake long and difficult onboarding processes, ensure accurate and reliable verification, and focus on their core business activities.”

Ondato has also recently released its latest ‘Identity Fraud Report.’

Article Topics

AML  |  identity verification  |  Jumio  |  KYB  |  KYC  |  Ondata  |  selfie biometrics  |  Shufti Pro  |  Veriff