The regulations around FICA* and KYC* are stringent. Companies that are found to be non-compliant stand to be hit with massive fines, as well as have their reputation – and business as a whole – severely damaged.
Unfortunately, for many companies, adhering to FICA and keeping their hundreds of thousands of customer records current and valid, is a mammoth task, and many fall short of compliance.
But it does not have to be this way.
Our Batch Verification tool enables accountable institutions to verify customer data quickly and accurately – both at the time of onboarding and throughout the customer relationship – thereby remaining compliant with the FIC Act, without having to spend the huge amounts of time, money and resources this process would ordinarily take.
Datanamix Batch Verification: How does it work?
Quite simply:
- A business submits their file or files of customer data to us;
- We process and verify the data;
- We return verified data from the relevant Golden Source (such as the Department of Home Affairs) to the business;
- The business integrates the returned data file, refreshing their database;
- And customer records are updated.
Please note: The time it takes from Datanamix receiving the data files, to returning the verified data, depends on the size of the batch. As a guide:
- Return time for standard requests (in the thousands): 48 to 72 hours
- Return time for medium requests (hundreds of thousands): 72 hours
- Large requests (in the millions): 5 to 10 working days
Batch verification for an entire suite of products
Our Batch Verification Service is available across our range of verification and risk management products, including:
- ID Verification – Used by corporations to authenticate the identity information of South African citizens, as well as to determine whether or not they are credit active.
- Bank Account Verification – The Realtime Account (holder) Verification Service (AVS-R) is a function that allows for the verification of an ID number and bank account number of an individual or a business.
- CIPC Business Verification – This service accesses the data accesses the data provided by CIPC and enables our customers to easily retrieve and verify all registration information related to any registered South African business and its principles.
- KYC (Consumer) Verification – Proof of life, ID verification and address verification.
- AML Sanction Verification – Our sanctions screening lists check is based on data from the most relevant sanctions organisations such as OFAC, UN and European Union.
- Custom Combined FICA batch
- Debt collecting: This service provides ID validation, access to the latest cell, work & home contact details, latest addresses, employment information, payment dates, affordability & propensity to pay scores (early or late stage). This service will assist internal collection departments or external debt collection companies to make informed debt recovery decisions.
- VAT Verification: Do batch searches from company registration numbers (confirm the correct company VAT number that is associated with that business), or by company VAT numbers (confirm the company name and registration number associated to a VAT number).
Batch verification benefits
The Datanamix Batch Verification Service takes a huge weight off organisations’ shoulders when it comes to the massive (and unavoidable) task of verifying and updating customer records. It also has a number of other benefits that make it ideal for accountable institutions seeking to up their compliance:
- Better cost per search on each verification
- Accurate data obtained only from veritable sources (Golden Source data)
- Secure upload of customer information (we guarantee data security as we adhere strictly to customer data regulations)
- Data returned is in an easy-to-use format
- Customisable configurations for batch FICA searches
- Significant financial savings, due to less resources being necessary for info updates
- Risk management (thorough vetting of customers, both new and existing)
- Avoid reputational damage (customers are very unforgiving of non-compliant companies)
- Enhanced customer experience (customers appreciate updated and accurate data)
- Project professionalism (if you’re not constantly on the ball, customers perceive this as unprofessional)
Datanamix’s Batch Verification Service gives you a fast and sure-fire way to update your massive list of customer data, and avoid the massive fines and reputational damage that go with non-compliance.
Please note: Our batch service is only available to qualifying customers and is not applicable to companies doing checks on behalf of another company.
Glossary of terms used
* FICA: The Financial Intelligence Centre Act – South Africa’s primary anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation. FICA aims to ensure that financial institutions know with whom they are doing business. The Act was amended in 2017 to bring South Africa in line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
* KYC: Know Your Customer is a business principle that falls within the FIC Act, which urges relevant companies to determine and verify the identity of their customers before they embark on doing business with them. KYC helps prevent people from opening accounts anonymously or under false names.
REFERENCES
- Datanamix website – Batch Verification
- www.gov.za – The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001
- www.gov.za – The Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act 1 of 2017
- KYC Chain – An overview of the FATF recommendations
- Wikipedia – Know your customer
- Oxbridge Academy – What is FICA and why do you need to know about it?
- Legal Practice Council – Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) legal practitioner’s inspections
- Etude Risk Management – Record-keeping requirements of an FSP – Part 2
- Accountancy SA – CPD: The FICA Amendment Act – What you need to know