FAAA launches AML tool from FrankieOne for Australian financial advisors

The Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) has launched a client identity verification tool that will help financial advisors meet anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism (CTF) obligations.

The FAAA SafeID software is based on technology from KordaMentha, a financial crime advisory and database, AML technology company Vigilance AML and identity and fraud prevention firm FrankieOne. The tool performs online identity checks against official data sources such as the Australian Document Verification Service (DVS), matching it with biographic information from the client’s ID documents.

The tool was created to simplify client identification and verification and make it more secure. Currently, some advisors require certified copies of client IDs to be sent by email, a practice that is potentially unsafe, according to FAAA CEO Sarah Abood.

“When a client is verified by an adviser using SafeID, they can be confident that their ID and personal data are protected and identity checks will be managed in line with AUSTRAC requirements,” she says.

Advisers can also perform checks on Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), sanctions and other screenings, while documenting the information. If copies of IDs are required for manual verification, these documents can be stored within the secure platform, reports SMSF Advisor.

The FAAA SafeID tool will allow advisers to meet both current and upcoming AUSTRAC obligations, notes Abood.

Australia is preparing for an overhaul of AML and CTF obligations on March 31st, 2026, extending compliance requirements to entities that want to provide item 54 services. The changes affect accountants, lawyers, real estate agents, property developers and financial advisers.

The tool will also benefit the industry more broadly, KordaMentha partner Alice Saveneh-Murray told Ifa.com.

“The solution that the FAAA SafeID provides really is going to take the complexity out of client identification for advisers,” says Saveneh-Murray.

FrankieOne has also signed up global cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to use its identity verification platform for KYC, KYB AML and sanctions screening. The company’s platform brings together face biometrics and liveness, behavioral biometrics, reputation scores, transaction monitoring and other signals in a single API.

“As exchanges like Gemini expand their presence across more jurisdictions, they need infrastructure that helps them navigate differing onboarding, verification and compliance requirements efficiently and consistently,” says FrankieOne Co-founder and CEO Simon Costello. “Our role is to give them a single connection point to the identity, fraud and compliance infrastructure required to scale safely and consistently across regions.”

Article Topics

AML  |  Australia  |  digital ID  |  financial services  |  FrankieOne  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification