Customer onboarding has historically included identity verification. The necessity for ID card verification still exists, but our society has gone digital, changing how we execute identity verification and why we need it. This is where KYC, KYB, And KYCC come into play.
In the past, unless there was a prior relationship, corporate entity verification was handled internally through extensive physical background checks. This made the client onboarding process vulnerable to fraud and bias. The transition to digital did little to change the way things are now. Customer onboarding continued to receive a lot of attention, but Business to Business (B2B) lagged.
Regulations and stringent rules for due diligence have increased protection for all parties while making it more straightforward for banks, financial institutions, and companies to onboard consumers.
Data about customers and businesses continued to be in danger, and fraud increased. As it was up to the enterprises to follow and put these rules into practice, many continued to disregard developing efficient ID validation systems, leaving holes in the onboarding and compliance process.
What Makes KYC Verification Insufficient For B2B Processes?
Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations are centered on specific consumers, as the name suggests. Businesses and other financial institutions were left to decide how to handle their business clients in light of this. Unfortunately, that resulted in lapsed ID verification far too frequently and essentially nonexistent B2B customer onboarding.
Customers and companies alike paid the price for the absence of security standards in the form of an increase in money laundering, fraud, identity theft, malware and virus attacks, hacked accounts, stolen data, and, ultimately, money. As a result, global ID verification and document verification services were considered unneeded unless the customer was considered high-risk, and basic due diligence was the rule.
For complete customer due diligence, there were four crucial elements for KYC verification.
- Validating identification and documents
- Identification and confirmation of beneficial owners
- To create a risk profile, one must comprehend the nature and purpose of customer connections.
- for reporting questionable transactions and managing digital identities, ongoing behavior monitoring, and transaction screening
These ignored organizational structure, who the significant decision-makers were, and whether or not they differed from the constantly-changing signatories. Additionally, it didn’t consider who had access to the records, international payments, their current clients, workers, or suppliers.
The phrase “Know Your Client” was intended to be more broadly used to refer to corporate organizations than the acronym “KYC.” Sadly, many missed the memo, and firms were left to handle B2B customer authentication until authorities stepped in.
What Does KYB Get Right That KYC Doesn’t?
According to the United Nations (UN), 2% to 5% of the global GDP is laundered annually, and an estimated 90% of money laundering activities go undetected. Therefore, it is evident that KYC verification alone cannot stop this from happening.
The losers in the fight against money laundering and other financial crimes are financial institutions. To offer businesses the same anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and address combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) laws, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) addressed the oversight of KYC. As a result, it implemented Know Your Business (KYB) in 2016.
With the implementation of KYB, the US Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions (CDD), or the EU’s Fifth Anti Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), the penalties for non-compliance were raised.
Therefore, it was made sure that everyone made an effort to plan and carry out a KYB verification process. KYB aims to identify Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO), reduce the risk of money laundering and other fraudulent acts, monitor and screen businesses against blacklists and greylists, and identify UBO.
The Requirements For KYB
Aside from the basic customer due diligence that is part of the requirements for KYB, businesses are required to provide the following:
- Company name
- Operational status
- Incorporation date
- Company address
- Business registration number
- Key management personnel
Institutional and corporate rules and requirements could differ. Some people might need further details for the KYB and KYC verification processes. Names and addresses of board members and other essential decision-makers may also be included in the list of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Some companies may require that you comply with AML/CTF regulations before doing business with them. Know Your Customer’s Customer (KYCC) rules may apply depending on the type of your organization.
KYCC- Its Relevance For Companies
Banks and other financial institutions understood the rationale for KYCC after the Wirecard crisis in Germany in 2020, but the implementation was different. Trying KYCC without the full compliance of all entities was a headache because certain business entities, including payment providers, had several firms that, in turn, did business and had multiple consumers. It may seem unjust to categorize all Fintech or consultancy firms as high risk at the outset, but that occurs when banks need to determine who your company serves.
Regulators and implementers were able to control KYCC better, prevent the development of other fictitious firms, and lessen the possibility of incorrectly designating enterprises as “high risk” by supporting KYCC with AML policies and automation.
The Bottomline
While constant monitoring is necessary for KYC Verification, it is only essential for high-risk businesses for KYB. The continuous problem of finding UBOs might make the corporate onboarding process take two to three months. Financial institutions and business clients experience frustration and hopelessness due to these circumstances.
But effective KYB can solve this issue. That’s why you need a reliable service provider for your processes. You can check out www.signzy.com for more details on the services we offer.
About Signzy
Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.
Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.
Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.
You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.
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