Identity Verification Blog- Signzy

AML Compliance Culture: Why It’s Important And 4 Ways To Create It

Posted on September 1, 2022 | by Signzian

Did you know that the anti-money laundering software market is projected to reach $1.77 billion by 2023? This is primarily because all institutions and governments want to stop money laundering. These illegal activities cost the world 2% to 5% of its GDP.

Although corporate culture has become very popular, the AML Compliance Culture is a new yet essential element in financial companies, which can impact the broader cultural challenges that the firm may face. Businesses must build their AML compliance procedures on a solid culture because there are numerous examples of how a poor compliance culture may harm the company.

What Exactly Is AML Compliance Culture?

AML culture may not have a specific phrase, but the idea is gaining popularity on a global scale. Experts believe that a weak compliance culture in enforcement efforts is the primary cause of weaknesses in the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing terrorism (CFT) frameworks. The values and practices of an organization are expressed in its culture, which underpins how its management and staff interact and conduct business daily. The growing number of business scandals involving sanctions violations, financial misconduct, bribery, and corruption underscores the need for healthy company culture.

It guarantees that a good AML culture has strong support from the top for both ML/TF risk management and implementing integrated controls to satisfy compliance goals. In addition, developing an AML culture requires AML/CFT controls to align with the organization’s broader risk appetite.

Why is AML Compliance Culture Essential?

Companies must have a strong AML culture because failures in AML/CFT have frequently been too weak AML cultures. An organization with a strong AML Compliance culture can identify compliance issues early, reduce risks, and offer practical compliance solutions.

Compliance teams are more successful at detecting and managing risks. In addition, the company is more effective at carrying out AML/CFT initiatives, where AML/CFT efforts are integrated, and there is a strong understanding throughout the enterprise.

The following is said by several regulators who seek to underline the significance of a favorable AML culture:

The Advisory to Financial Companies/Institutions on Promoting an AML Culture, published by FinCEN, emphasizes the importance of an organization’s culture to compliance.
Financial crime is unacceptable, AML resources are insufficient, and top management has little awareness, according to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reviews conducted in the UK.
According to AUSTRAC in Australia, compliance mechanisms alone are insufficient to produce good outcomes without a strong compliance culture. Still, the presence of a compliance culture can lower regulatory risk.

A review of major sanctions and enforcement proceedings for AML legislation violations in the US and the UK revealed recurring problems with senior management oversight and compliance culture. This has occasionally caused regulators to worry that some organizations have purposeful blindness to or disdain regulators.

You Can Create A Strong AML and Regulatory Compliance Culture

Some aspects must be prioritized to establish a good compliance culture within a company.

These elements can be summed up as follows:

1. Re-examination of Corporate Governance

The company’s corporate governance will need to be reviewed and improved as a priority. The overall vision and strategy of the companies should be clearly defined. Clear emphasis should be placed on the organization’s mission, target audience, line of business, location, and management style. Everyone involved in the industry should consider regulatory compliance crucial and keep it in their minds. A Code of Conduct and several other pertinent policies should clearly describe and reflect these desirable standards of conduct and general behavior. A well-written and current code of conduct can outline expectations for proper conduct and give management and staff members of an organization a direction.

The boundaries for all significant choices and activities are established by policies, which offer a framework for an organization’s operations. Strong regulatory compliance regulations are necessary, and one such regulation should be the Customer Acceptance Policy.

2. Organizational Structure

Accountability is ensured, and senior management is assisted in delivering the proper messages to all employees to ensure adherence to core values and principles via a robust, transparent organizational structure. The structure should be as straightforward as feasible to provide clear roles, duties, lines of accountability, and alignment of interests throughout the business. It must be open and offer simple monitoring procedures. Additionally, it should establish clear lines of reporting, clarify the allocation of duties among the various members of the organization, and specify the procedures for making decisions.

3. Identifying and Understanding Risk

When identifying risks, evaluating risks, and putting measures in place to reduce those risks, a concerted and risk-based strategy should be used with a focus on higher-risk areas. However, low-risk zones are also crucial, although they come in second.

It is impossible to comprehend the appropriate actions to deal with these risks effectively and efficiently if the stakes are not identified. Therefore, organizations should identify hazards, evaluate the possibility and impact of breaking laws and regulations, rank those risks, and develop the appropriate tools and processes. Businesses must also determine the proper personnel to combat these risks.

When establishing an AML culture, it is crucial to choose the best AML officer who will develop and administer the program, make any required adjustments, and keep key staff members and the board updated on its development. Additionally, they must have appropriate internal controls, impartial review mechanisms, and regular testing of policies and systems.

4. Training

A good AML program and culture of compliance depend on practical training for personnel, management, and AML officers. The employees of a company must comprehend their regulatory compliance responsibilities and the justification for asking them to act ethically. Staff members shouldn’t be inflexible or mechanical in their daily judgment calls or decision-making processes. Instead, they should know what to do when confronted with potential ML or improper behavior, value reason, and document their judgments.

Bottom Line

Developing an AML Compliance Culture starts with adopting newer modes of AML and KYC. For this, you will need a reliable fintech resources provider. At Signzy, we provide state-of-the-art quality API products that are AI-driven without needing a single line of code.

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.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Lowering The Lending Daze With APIs- A Detailed Look With Top 4 Benefits Of Open API Infrastructure

Posted on August 25, 2022 | by Signzian

Nearly all organizations now depend on Application Programming Interface (API) technology, and the lending industry is no exception. API technology is a software platform that enables two programs to communicate with one another.

Forbes reports that 85% of companies view web APIs and API-based integration as essential to their corporate strategy and long-term success. Lenders may offer better products, more advantageous loan conditions, and a more effective, seamless customer experience by connecting to third-party data suppliers and aggregators via an open API infrastructure. Intelligent lenders are utilizing this new wave of innovation focused on shared services, allowing them to maintain their emphasis on their core loan goods while using the most recent technological advancements.

However, many firms can feel lost in the jungle and struggle to comprehend how to approach an open API strategy. This does not have to be the situation. You can find success by using the advice and techniques in this blog post.

Why Does Lending Need APIs?

In response to market realities, lenders must act swiftly to present enticing offers to borrowers. Being connected to a network of integrators and providers of third-party data is the finest and most effective way to do this. Simply said, lenders will fall behind if they don’t link to a larger digital ecosystem. Additionally, forward-thinking lenders are learning more about APIs and how they could change the way they provide credit.

Consider the fantastic experiences you have in your life, thanks to app-based platforms. Have you ever used Facebook to log into a service or application, for example? This illustration shows the simplicity of service your loan business can offer its clients by utilizing an open API infrastructure.

The Benefits Of An Open API Infrastructure In Lending

Lenders can change how they provide digital goods and services to all stakeholders, including customers, partners, and staff, by exposing their businesses to APIs and shedding the constraints of their traditional systems.They can essentially transform lending. Among the main advantages are:

Accelerated innovation and increased scale- Avoid being overtaken by the competition by having access to reliable partners and data sources that can hasten the release of new goods and services.

Boost revenue- by targeting new consumer categories across a more comprehensive geographic range without adding costs or affecting profitability.

Integrating credit report and bureau data- into your core lending platform can eliminate manual data entry, reduce margins of error, and enhance laser-focused underwriting. This is by removing the need for paperwork and numerous layers of human approval, which adds time to the underwriting process.

Integration of background data and applications- is made more effortless. Data synchronization to and from your back-end systems can be more straightforward if you use standard API services to scale enterprise connectivity and follow best security practices.

However, each lender is distinct and presents borrowers with a different selling proposition. Knowing what functions best for your company is crucial. There isn’t a single universal API strategy. Understand your goals and how to collaborate with the appropriate data suppliers and other third parties to achieve what’s best for you.

Top Tips For Making Your API Strategy A Success

Organizations must take a logical, proven approach to the journey to build API products and participate in the API economy. Steps to take include:

Developing your digital strategy- Lack of a compelling digital design could spell doom in an environment of intense competition and virtually daily introduction of new technology. Understanding what you want to achieve with digital technology is crucial and ensuring that it ties in with larger business goals.

Align and unite across business units and culture – Ensure everyone is on board and aware of the advantages and how they relate to the company’s goals. You need the entire executive team to back your API strategy; this is not simply the CIO’s or the IT department’s job. There will be a paradigm shift with this for many organizations.

Engage a comprehensive digital ecosystem: Senior executives are responsible for expanding the company’s consumer base and enhancing internal procedures. However, they are unable to accomplish this by carrying on as usual. Businesses may identify and seize these opportunities by connecting to external data sources. By putting together (either buying or building) a complete lifecycle API management platform/tools and establishing an API architecture, try to build and nurture your API community. Be sure to implement security best practices.

The Bottomline

Technology, in all its essence, is transforming the lending ecosystem. APIs are the current phase of this. You need to adapt to this amalgamating technology to keep your enterprise in the race. It is impossible to do this alone, so you need a good resource provider.

You can enhance your venture’s processes with Signzy’s resources, including verification and collection APIs designed explicitly for lending and loaning industries. Our products are AI-driven yet do not require any coding. We can find apt solutions for your issues with a fully customizable quiver of options. Check it out here.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Online KYC To Prevent Data Breach- 4 Things To Understand Its Relevance In Cybersecurity

Posted on August 18, 2022 | by Signzian

According to IBM, the typical cyberattack costs $3.86 million, and it takes 280 days to discover and contain. Additionally, the market for basic cybersecurity worldwide will be worth $403 billion by 2027, growing at a 12.5% compound yearly growth rate. For the longest time, KYC in all forms (including Online KYC) and basic cybersecurity have operated as independent fields. Protecting businesses against external threats like antivirus software, firewalls, etc., has been referred to as cybersecurity. However, the KYC process has been incorporated into the company’s client onboarding procedure to guarantee that the new user is qualified after passing the security tests.

Another effect of the coronavirus outbreak is the fusion of Online KYC and basic cybersecurity. Online businesses proliferated when lockdowns confined individuals inside of their homes. But regrettably, it also puts daily life subject to cyber attacks. Since the pandemic breakout, 71% of IT and security experts worldwide have noticed increased security risks and attacks.

Here are 4 things to understand about the use of Online KYC in basic cybersecurity.

1. What Exactly Is The KYC Process?

In the global economy, financial institutions are more exposed to criminal activity than ever before. Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines have been developed to safeguard financial institutions from fraud, corruption, money laundering, and financing of terrorism.

KYC is used in the following:

Determining the identity of the customer
Recognizing the kind of activities that customers engage in
Make sure the money is coming from a reliable source.
Evaluating the danger of money laundering

Business owners have traditionally valued KYC Processing. It used to be required for regulated companies, but since technology has evolved and the bulk of services are now provided online, it has become increasingly important for every company. It serves as the customer’s first point of identification because it includes biometric data like fingerprint, IRIS, and face. They make sure to verify uniqueness before offering any services as a result.

2. KYC and Basic Cybersecurity?

Businesses reported fraud-based losses resulting from account opening and account takeover in 57% of cases. It indicates that cyber dangers are gaining access to KYC procedures and that further security measures are necessary. Businesses currently provide safe Online KYC solutions for increased cybersecurity.

Facial liveness solutions that employ artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to provide a failsafe verification process are assisting in preventing fraud. Today, the same can be done with a selfie or fast video chat, contrary to earlier perceptions that it was impossible to do facial liveness checks without physical verification. As a result, social media networks can use such technologies to stop cybersecurity frauds.

3. Online KYC’s Role In Ensuring Seamless Identity Checks

Companies and enterprises can choose to integrate ML algorithms and Online KYC APIs easily. They are simple to integrate into any organization’s primary business applications. It makes it possible for verified consumers to be onboarded and for the customer experience to be smooth. In addition, document validation uses AI and ML technology.

Technologies like document verification and optical character recognition (OCR) extraction are also emerging. They provide the businesses the authority to collect altered photographs. Similar to how OCR software identifies, extracts, and assembles letters into words and phrases from an image. Additionally, it is advantageous against data breaches.

4. What Can Governments Do?

Governments can actively assist businesses by assisting with consumer identity checks. Unique IDs, like the Aadhaar cards used in India, are one such method. Governments’ readiness to give necessary APIs to the private sector, where possible, can ensure that KYC processing is completed in addition to setting up Unique IDs. Additionally, it will help to eradicate cybersecurity fraud and data breaches.

Conclusion

Nowadays, Online KYC can be completed quickly and affordably thanks to contemporary technology, which also improves cybersecurity. At the moment, Online KYC and basic cybersecurity coexist in the same world. Companies are now asking pertinent questions about cybersecurity due to the post-pandemic shift in the security paradigm. They want to integrate seamless and secure operations to maintain their customers, data, and reputation. Never let your guard down as a corporation, and keep an eye out for technological solutions that guarantee cybersecurity during the Online KYC processes.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Top 10 Must Have API Qualities For Business Growth

Posted on August 17, 2022 | by Signzian

According to MarketsandMarkets, the API management sector is projected to be worth $5.1 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 32.9%. The lion’s share of this comes from the investment and financial technology sectors. Although the number of transactions might be relatively low, the amounts transferred are rather high here. That’s where API is revolutionizing the ecosystem.

APIs have long been hailed as the foundation for revolutionizing financial technology in the investment sector. However, not all APIs are made equal, despite their ability to alter how investment data is maintained and moved within the fund sector. Some qualities are essential when looking at an API-first solution for investment management:

1) Security In The Investment Sector

Any modern API will include strong validation, encrypted transmission, and robust authentication (at a bare minimum). In addition, the sensitive customer data that is virtually always stored by investment platforms (such as names, addresses, portfolio holdings, and national insurance numbers) needs to be protected. Errors are unacceptable when it comes to safeguarding your clients’ data.

2) Low Entry Barrier

New API users ought to have a low entrance barrier. We discover that a standard like OpenAPI (also known as Swagger) gives developers a comfortable experience. Shortening deployment times will also be assisted by accessing Software Development Kits (SDKs). A solid SDK will handle the most mundane activities, allowing users to tackle their business growth problems immediately (e.g., building a new asset allocation algorithm or integrating with a new custodian).

3) Apt Documentation

Any API you use should be thoroughly documented and include numerous examples. Both the technical elements of the API and use-cases should be covered in the documentation. For instance, “How do I execute a valuation with a custom price source?” or “What are the minimal field names and data types required to update a trade?”

4) Logical Building Blocks With Synergy

You would want logical and practical abstractions and resources represented via API endpoints. For instance, a different Instruments and Holdings endpoint will be available on practically all investment management platforms. These endpoints ought to operate in unison (we call this composability). For example, you should be able to take the details of the instruments from the Holdings response and use these to call for more information about the instruments from the Instruments endpoint.

5) Adopt Premium Standards

A high-quality API should adhere to internationally accepted standards. The onboarding process for new users is improved when familiar standards are used (and applications). An illustration of this is the REST architectural style, which uses the HTTP standard verbs (GET, POST, etc.). As a result, developers don’t need to carefully read the system documentation to realize that a “PUT holdings” request replaces (rather than changes) all of the holdings in your portfolio. Industry standards can also aid in processing API data by applications and machinery. For instance, we prefer JSON because it is supported by rich libraries in all essential programming languages.

6) Consistent And Persistent Implementation

A top-notch API should apply naming conventions and standard features uniformly across all endpoints. For instance, a Holdings endpoint and a Transactions endpoint might need to deliver a reference to an exclusive instrument in an attribute. To provide the best user experience, that attribute should have the same name (perhaps something like InstrumentId) in both endpoints. Standard features across all APIs should also be consistent. For example, do your APIs have any filtering functionality? If so, the operators and syntax used in those filtering statements across all endpoints should be the same.

After determining the mandatory features in an API-first platform, let’s now look at some of how an API-first solution can give you improved access to your investment data.

7) External Systems Integration

By offering a “common language” for these systems to communicate, an API-first platform should enable smooth integration between various systems in your financial technology stack. For instance, an Order Management System (OMS) and a Portfolio Management System will often have a continuous data flow between investment managers (PMS). Therefore, it is possible to guarantee that both systems are constantly updated with accurate data by using an API-first platform as the foundational integration layer. To ensure that your portfolio managers are constantly making decisions based on the best information, for instance, you might want orders raised from the PMS to reach the OMS promptly and for the PMS to be updated with transactions from the OMS in real-time.

8) Data Access Control

Granular entitlements that are simple to administer will be present on an excellent API-first platform, giving administrators complete control over the data that particular users and groups are permitted to access. With everyone having simple access to the information they require but no one having access to data they shouldn’t, you will be able to achieve the ideal data entitlement.

9) Rapid Data Onboarding

For a client, do you need to onboard a new ESG data set? Or have your data strategists found any further information that could be mined for alpha? Your teams will be able to quickly extract the most value possible from new data if you have a reliable pipeline that pumps it into your ecosystem and has an intuitive API with a flexible data model. This is the evolution in financial technology we seek for business growth.

10) Transparency For End-Users In The Development Process

API suppliers can easily involve customers in the development process thanks to the microservice model of API-first platforms, where loosely connected services are delivered and maintained individually. In addition, users can test new functionality early and take part in the feedback loop during early revisions of an API endpoint thanks to the separation of endpoints into “Production,” “Beta,” and “Experimental.”

Why Choosing An API Provider is Crucial

As the sector deals primarily with large amounts of money, there is no space for even the slightest errors. Mostly these errors are human-made. Thus one of the prerequisites you can have while transforming your processes is to automate the processes with a reliable decision engine. This should be done without compromising the investor’s experience or their safety.

With Signzy’s No-code AI-driven decision engine integrated API that’s fully customizable, you will get the apt resources you seek. In addition, we have a dedicated collection of Investment APIs that includes investor onboarding features, verification processes, and much more. Check it out here.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Cross-Country Payments With RBI’s UPI- A Detailed Look At The Central Bank’s Future For International Remittance

Posted on August 11, 2022 | by Signzian

India was the top recipient of remittances in the world in 2021, receiving over USD 87 billion. This represented a 4.6% increase above its remittance inflows from prior years. This is because remittances only represented 3.1% of the nation’s GDP in 2020.

Cross-country remittances are growing, and the Reserve Bank Of India(RBI) acknowledges this as they are deciding to act on it. Their initial plan is to add newer options to the 6-year-old Universal Payments Interface(UPI) that includes international payments. Prima facie is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Yet we must look closely to see how it will impact the sector.

What Is RBI’s Initiative?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated in its annual report for FY21 that it is working on using UPI for cross-country transfers among jurisdictions.

RBI has looked into the idea of connecting UPI with comparable systems in other jurisdictions, particularly in the G20 countries, to improve cross-country and international payment arrangements. In addition, the apex bank claims to participate in the discussions over the fundamentals and roadmap of UPI and cross-country remittance with the Committee on Payments & Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and Financial Stability Board (FSB).

What Are Cross-Country Remittances?

For the uninitiated, cross-country remittances are transactions between individuals, companies, or banks in at least two countries. At the moment, cross-country and international payments are settled through a bank with branches in both nations. The bank converts money to local currency and charges users a commission of up to 10%. As a result, the procedure is time- and money-consuming.

What Is The Future Of Cross-Country Remittances In India?

The cornerstone of the cross-country payments ecosystem in India is likely to be laid by a similar agreement between PayNow, based in Singapore, and UPI’s governing organization, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The integration of UPI with PayNow has been formally announced, even though the efforts with different nations are at varying levels. According to the RBI, it should start operating in the second half of 2022.

The interlinking lowers the cost of cross-country remittances and will further anchor commerce, travel, and remittance flows between the two nations. It might also be used as an illustration of how different fast payment systems can be linked to sending money quickly and cheaply.

Essentially,

NPCI, an RBI initiative, has collaborated with several foreign organizations to share the UPI infrastructure but prevents cross-country payments.
The cross-country payments ecosystem in India is likely to be built around PayNow, a Singapore-based company, which is the sole partner of UPI.
According to the RBI, efforts are in various phases with different countries, but cross-country remittance via PayNow will start after July 2022.

UPI For Cross-Country Remittances

One of India’s payment settlement infrastructures with the quickest growth is UPI. The interface enables peer-to-peer payments across banks and platforms with a single pin. UPI recorded transactions of INR 10.4 Lakh Cr. in May 2022 alone because of its scalability and simplicity of usage.

As a result, numerous nations took note of the stack and made plans to implement the UPI functioning model in their countries. For this, NPCI’s international division, NIPL, has agreements with several banks in nations like the UAE, the US, Nepal, China, Japan, and several regions of Africa. However, so far, these partnerships have been signed to share the infrastructure and not enable cross-country payments.

For instance, in August 2021, NIPL announced its partnership with UAE-based Mashreq Bank to benefit 2 Mn+ Indians who travel to UAE for business or leisure every year.

In July 2021, NPCI partnered with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan to initiate UPI-based payments in Bhutan and benefit an estimated 200,000 tourists from India who travel to the mountain nation annually.

Other successful international partnerships in this space include Discover Financial Services (DFS) USA, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) Japan, Union Pay International (UPI) China, PPRO Financial, UK, and Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), Singapore, and Liquid Group, Singapore.

Bottomline

Once RBI implements this aspect of UPI, transactions will boom, and fintech enterprises need to be ready. A simple digital adaptation to accommodate the transforming technology won’t cut it. All processes will have to qualify for international standards, and better security measures must be implemented. All this needs to be done without compromising the experience of the customer.

If you seek to improve your processes and be ready for the looming change, we at Signzy might be able to help out. Our No-code AI-driven resources that are fully customizable are built for your needs. Check it out here.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Employment Verification- Why It’s Primal For Lending?

Posted on July 28, 2022 | by Signzian

The 2021 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report states that almost 30% of all financial fraud complaints in the US involved identity theft. This represents a 50% increase from 2020. Among these, loan application fraud was one of the primary sources of complaints, and the identity of the fraudulent buyers and borrowers were usually fake or stolen.

Conventionally, the loaning process for housing has been tedious for both the lender and the applicant. Now add a bit of high fraudulence risk into the mix, and voila, you have the recipe for a potential disaster, a disaster that needs to be avoided. That’s why when the loan application process begins, there is hectic paperwork and back and forth with your lender. The whole deal of underwriting is an intense procedure and includes methods for everyone involved.

One major step in the underwriting process is efficient employment verification. The lender needs to do their due diligence and validate that you are and have been employed to ensure they’re considering all of the user’s income sources. This confirms that the potential borrower can cover their down payment, closing costs, and monthly repayment.

Why is employment verification necessary in lending?

While it seems like just another box to check in the lending process, lenders must verify your employment and all income information to confirm your capability to make your monthly mortgage payment and reduce their risk of giving you the money.

How do mortgage lenders verify their borrowers?

Mortgage lenders verify employment by contacting the concerned borrower’s employer directly. First, they review the borrower’s recent income documentation. These can include an employment verification letter and a recent pay stub. Sometimes it can also have something else that proves an employment history and verifies the income.

Employee verification can take days to weeks if your lender works off of physical forms. However, the process could take mere hours if you work with a lender who requests payroll access for any underwriting.

Are you looking to save time in your mortgage processes? Then, check out Signzy’s resources to innovate and improve them.

When is the employment verification process done for mortgages?

Some lenders verify employment multiple times during the mortgage process:

1)Pre-approval

Working with a lender before you have your dream house picked out in a competitive housing market and learning what kind of mortgage you would qualify for can be a good idea. When you get the preapproval, you may be required to submit information or documents such as bank statements and salary slips to prove your income, the funds you’re using to get the loan, and a credit check.

2)Verifications during the underwriting

Each lender will verify income and employment checks underwriting a mortgage according to their timeline. Generally, it is done anywhere from a few days to a few weeks before your loan is cleared to close. It might be performed again if the timeline to complete was extended to confirm that nothing has altered.

Experts recommend not making career changes during the underwriting process, finishing another loan payment to avoid impacting your credit score, or getting a new credit card.

To Conclude

Income and employment verifications are a critical part of the home loan process. Still, it can be difficult for those without access to an HR resource to handle the particular paperwork; even when an HR department exists to submit the documentation to lenders, paper forms and conventional PDFs slow down the whole lending process. That’s why the lender’s responsibility is to make the process more convenient and easy.

If you want to make the verification processes easy, then you should avail the services of a good fintech provider. In a world with so many choices, finding the right one is difficult, especially with so many bad options. At Signzy, we ensure that the fintech solution we get you is not manufactured from a blueprint but rather created according to your needs. Our AI-driven API resources help us to customize our way through your problems.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Garnering the Gig Economy- 3 Ways The Fintech Industry Leverages AI To Enhance The Gig Workforce

Posted on July 21, 2022 | by Signzian

In 2021, there were nearly 23.9 million independent/gig workers comprising the Gig economy in the United States, an increase from 12.9 million in 2017, according to the 2022 Gig Payments Report. The study further illuminates that 85% of respondents have increased their gig work, and 58% cited inflation as their primary reason for this. The number of workers is still growing with rising inflation, pandemic-era job losses, and the work-life balance mindset.

Conventional financial services are not tailored for the needs of gig workers. This is because many banks focus more on premium and higher-income customers. Additionally, they lack access to data about the financial behaviors of gig workers, who often have to keep their financial activity unregistered. Their paychecks often fluctuate with jobs coming and going from one month to the next. This lack of a steady income means these workers struggle to access investment accounts, loans, insurance, and other financial products. They are also likely to face difficulties paying for unexpected emergencies, such as costly medical treatments.

For fintech industry companies, an opportunity awaits. Many financial technology ventures have recognized these workers as potential customers who are underserved by the traditional banks and are now playing a pivotal role in powering the Gig economy. We at Signzy like to stay ahead of the curve and have been focusing on providing financial technology services that are easy to use without compromising quality. Let’s see how all this has helped the growing sector.

AI From Fintech Industry Companies For Gig economy

Gig Payments Report states that gig workers prioritize speedy service while receiving payments. For example, 70% prefer to receive their payment on the same day they work while 39% choose immediately after each job. Only 29% prefer it at the end of each day. Additionally, with rising inflation impacting work and personal expenses for 57% of respondents, timely access to funds is crucial for their financial needs.

With a gargantuan gig economy workforce looking to financial sector to manage their finances, there are bound to be support-related queries that follow. So how can the support teams of financial technology companies rise to offer the much-needed support, especially that which aligns with the preferences and expectations of their customers today? Herein lies the chance for these companies to immediately incorporate modern AI-powered support systems into their technology stacks to resolve all customer issues.

Meeting Customers Where They Are

Not bound to any location, gig workers are constantly moving. AI-powered solutions provide resolutions across channels through email, messaging, chat, SMS, and voice for support when they require it the most. Most of Signzy’s API resources enable the institutions with remote-friendly solutions. This can be for onboarding, KYC, etc.

Moreover, they are constantly busy, and gig work is often a side hustle that supplements their income (Branch and Marqeta’s report defines only 27% rely on gig work as their major source of income). By leveraging AI, fintech companies can offer proactive customer service – addressing a customer’s issue before they encounter one- by detecting or anticipating the problem in advance and extending the necessary support to resolve it. Some of the use cases are:

Warning a customer that their bill is soon due.
Reminding customers to transfer balances from one account to another.
Alerting customers that there may be an improved savings account option than their current one.

Such proactive, preemptive, and predictive support is much needed for the workforce. We ensure that you get it at Signzy.

Fast, Immediate Solutions

Terraforming the customer support landscape, AI-powered chatbots for customer service have become significantly efficient by delivering personalized solutions immediately and automatically for a truly effortless experience. In addition, AI can automate resolutions to high-volume, repeatable tickets like paying monthly bills and resetting passwords, freeing up human agents to focus on the more complex issues and decreasing resolution times. The result? Faster and more consistent customer support, and less fielding of common and repetitive problems for the support team.

For example, suppose a customer has doubts about the loan application process. In that case, a chatbot could efficiently provide a relevant article from a company’s knowledge base that covers this topic in detail. Furthermore, if it is connected to the correct backend systems, it can even provide the real-time status of applications.

AI-driven solutions enable fintech companies to improve their support for customers’ needs. This includes access to 24/7 support outside of standard working hours when support teams are unavailable to respond to queries. This also reduces the cost of keeping a human support team on standby in case of an unexpected ticket spike. In addition, this type of support is ideal for gig workers who work irregular schedules but still need support access from their financial service provider. One of the emphasized areas Signzy focuses on is this kind of support for our clients. We ensure to take care of everyone.

What Signzy Is Adding To The Growth

Signzy has been in the fintech industry for nearly a decade now. We began with the idea of having fully customizable AI-driven automated solutions for all onboarding and KYC problems. But since its inception, we have kept in mind the further horizons we would explore. The time is nigh, and we are helping out in all the industries we can. With the Gig economy, we believe our services can provide a strong foothold in ensuring the right customers for all financial institutions. We make sure to make it simple for everyone.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Harnessing Hospitality With KYC- How Signzy Can Help The Hospitality Industry Be Safe

Posted on July 14, 2022 | by Signzian

Did you know that for the hospitality industry, statistics indicate that organizations lose upto 6% of annual revenue from fraudulent activities perpetrated by guests and employees? For example, a hotel operator earning approximately $10 million in annual room revenue may experience losses between $500,000 and $600,000.

Preventing this while moving forward in the industry is a parlous task. One of the effective ways of this is to conduct KYC-‘Know Your customer’ for all the customers. KYC is the process of verifying the user’s identity and is typically done by several methods such as ID paper upload, face recognition, electronic ID verification, etc.

Digital KYC is rendering to be a mandatory process in the hospitality industry. Let’s examine how this is blooming and why fintech companies will help enhance this growth.

Relevance Of Digital KYC Processes

Digital KYC is as essential as ever in the financial technology sector to prevent financial fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and terrorist financing. As a result, it is widely used in the banking and fintech industries. But this begs the question of how KYC helps the hospitality industry? First, more and more states demand that the hotel has a copy of the guest’s passport or ID. But the issue with this solution is a lower Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) and increased time per check-in.

As Hotels lean towards online and kiosk check-ins, this process becomes more difficult. It would be great for customers to offer their passport or ID information ahead of time, which includes a scan of the passport and a picture of the guest. If this information could be stored in the hotel’s Property Management Software before the arrival of guests, it would be far more convenient.

Digital KYC in International Hospitality

Financial institutions in Scandinavia, Central, and Western Europe reported considerable savings and improved affinity for their services after implementing an effective Electronic ID (eID)-based KYC process a few years ago. But when you implement such methods, ensure that you avail the assistance of an established fintech resource provider. Else, the road might turn out to be quite bumpy.

Availing Fintech Industry Service Providers

A good service provider might seem complicated to find at first, but if you know where to look, you can get the best. They will ensure that the proposed solutions are specifically designed for your needs rather than a conglomeration for general clients. It will also be maximized in digitization. But, most importantly, it should comply with regulatory guidelines without compromising comfort or security.

At Signzy, we provide the most secure customer onboarding, e-signing, and authentication services. We ensure that all our clients, especially from the hospitality industry, encourage using electronic IDs, passports, and ID cards as verification documents and utilize digitized KYC methods. We can provide you with state-of-the-art customizable AI-driven resources for this. In addition, we can help you obtain required information from OVD(officially Verified Documents), retrieve the data, and store documents and signed agreements in archives.

Electronic IDs

It is essential to understand what an electronic ID is? Electronic identification is an electronic system for legitimizing users on the Internet or other computer systems. For example, using an electronic identity, users can identify, sign contracts, and approve transactions on websites such as banks and public portals.

Once onboard, guests can quickly access their loyalty program information. In addition, if they use an eID, there is no need to worry about remembering a username and login, as the eID provides authentication.

Signzy’s Impact In The Hospitality Industry

Signzy’s contributions in the industry are not unprecedented or novel, as we have always emphasized upgrading the onboarding and KYC processes in financial technology for nearly a decade. The hospitality industry, too, has seen its fair share of this.

Recently the regulations are becoming more stringent as fraudsters are finding advanced ways to trick hotels. As the behemoths in the hospitality industry acknowledge and adopt KYC and identification processes as mandatory, it is only sensible for the mid-level players to do the same. The era of digitization is here, and it is now.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

The Future Of Fintech Industry’s Finest- 7 Predictions On Where It’s Headed

Posted on July 8, 2022 | by Signzian

In 2022, the fintech industry is estimated to be $179 billion. This is expected to reach $213 billion by the year 2024.

Knowing how big it will grow is helpful, but there is more than meets the eye. The intricate factors and latent possibilities drive the growth. Determining a probability for this in figures is near impossible. But we certainly can determine the possible tangents where the financial technology industry is headed.

Here are 7 predictions on how the fintech industry will be transformed.

Explore the future of financial technology with these metamorphosing predictions that range from hybrid cloud solutions to exponential computing processes. Not only is the fintech industry changing payment methods and investing options, but also how any business works.

Advanced Hybrid Cloud/Server Solutions

The unavoidable nature of a well-planned ecosystem strategy is crucial, as is effective and efficient orchestration. For example, open banking lets customers share their financial data with other apps and vice versa. In addition, real-time intelligent data integration is possible with hybrid cloud (cloud/server) solutions.

Cybersecurity Teams And Their Convergence

Cybersecurity and anti-fraud teams are conventionally separate departments in financial companies. They are usually focused on different threats and risk factors from various entities. As cyber fraud allows criminals to exploit this division blatantly, banks will soon rethink the organization of these teams. Crimes like synthetic identity fraud are aided by artificial intelligence, automation, and other banking technology, unlike traditional approaches to fraudulent theft. These separate teams will combine as banks and financial companies and institutions realize the joint expertise of cybersecurity managers and fraud investigators is required to combat these threats. Inadvertently, the CISOs – probably with the largest cybersecurity budgets compared to any industry by 2023- will take on the anti-fraud team’s responsibilities.

Defi Over Cefi

DeFi is short for ‘Decentralized Finance‘, also known as the Open Finance movement. At its foundation, it is a blockchain-based form of finance focusing on removing the conventional reliance on CeFi (Centralized Finance). Consider removing the requirement for intermediaries such as exchanges, brokers, or banks to handle settlements of any transactions and move that into a smart contract on the blockchain. The objective is to revolutionize finance and vest the power back to the relevant investors and funds. We are already headed in this direction and can expect DeFi to become a vital part of the financial ecosystem.

The Inevitability Of The Best Customer Experience

The financial services industry has refocused on putting consumers first. As a result, the current consumers are relieved and liberated with a wide range of products and services. This grants a newfound sense of power over their spending habits. With a rise in card-linked rewards, personalized loyalty programs, BNPL solutions, and much more, consumers have multiple choices on how and when their money is spent. As a result, banks and fintech need to evolve their offerings to meet customers’ demands constantly. This will continue well into the banking’s future, effectively making end-users the winners. The power vested has shifted to the consumers, and it is not going away anytime soon.

Newer Modes For Identification

The fintech industry will enable communities to create bank accounts without requiring KYC verification processes with identification documents that may not exist or be accessible. Moreover, by making it available for individuals to avail of financial services, it’s certainly possible to generate greater access to borrowing services, remittances, and even investment tools/options. These may pave the way to creating businesses, better debt management, and financial security.

Exponential Computing Power And Processes

By 2050, computing power and network speeds will handle unimaginable volumes of data. As a result, business and the financial technology sector will generally become more automated and real-time. Larger volumes of data will rapidly flow within and between many enterprises, and cognitive computing will enhance financial systems. With this, financial teams will no longer have to expend days or weeks collating and consolidating financial and operational factors for delivery to stakeholders. Instead, summarized financially and any operational data will be instantly available to executives on a real-time basis. This will support “right-time” decision-making.

Embedded Finance And Its Relevance

Embedded fintech will undoubtedly dominate the industry by 2030. This implies that financial services will not necessarily be offered as a stand-alone product. Instead, it will be a part of the primary user interface of other products. Good examples of embedded finance are Facebook Pay and Apple Card. By 2030, similar services will be crucial to the scene.

Leveraging The Fate Of The Fintech Industry

We can reasonably assume that the future of fintech is indeed engrossed in technological advancements. As banking technology metamorphosizes into newer forms and the financial industry explores novel venues, it is sensible to adapt to the changing time. Automation and artificial intelligence in the financial companies’ sphere is a good start. You will need to find reliable and efficient fintech service providers who will be available for your requirements. At signzy, we focus on this. Check out the webpage to know more.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

Fintech’s Role in India’s $5 Trillion Ambition

Posted on June 24, 2022 | by Signzian

As India sets its sights on achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2026, the fintech industry emerges as a pivotal player in this grand vision. Combining the power of technology with finance, fintech is transforming traditional banking, facilitating seamless digital transactions, and bridging the financial inclusion gap in the country. With its ability to offer innovative solutions, from digital payments to alternative lending, fintech is not just modernizing the financial landscape but also catalyzing economic growth by driving investments, creating jobs, and enhancing consumer experiences.

In 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned making India a titan with a USD 5 trillion economy and a global powerhouse by 2024-25. With this, India would be the third largest economy in the world with every financial company powering the change.

Although almost all industries have contributed to India’s growth in the past decade, financial technology significantly impacts achieving the goal. A major factor for this is the relentless adoption of automation in the sector.

India’s digital journey has been a unique one. It probably started with the Digital India campaign in 2015, which aimed to promote greater financial inclusion – India’s population has grown to over 1.4 billion, and significant steps have been taken toward digitization.

The Government’s Role In The Fintech Industry

The government-initiated campaign had three main components:

Digital Infrastructure Creation
Digital Delivery of Services
Digital Literacy

To a large degree, the movement empowered the people and continues to impact the country’s growth positively.

Today, we have the following:

Aadhaar ID system
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
Enhanced internet connectivity
A nation with a large portion of digital natives
Some of the fastest-growing and most successful fintech industry startups

With the digital revolution that has been happening, people are getting greater and easier access to financial services. This fundamentally changes consumers’ financial behavior from a preference for cash to e-wallets and UPI. UPI is one of the significant driving factors in India that has gotten consumers to use payment services on their mobile phones. Changing payment habits are driving changes in banking and financial services in India.

Financial Companies Into E-Commerce

As e-commerce took off in India, with companies like Amazon and other e-commerce players entering the market, consumers transitioned to digital payments like Google Pay, Paytm, QR payments, etc.

They also became habituated to using digital authentication methods from:

Aadhaar XML
Know Your Customer (Online KYC)
Use of one-time password (OTP)
Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Some of these were introduced out of necessity to cater to consumers in cities with varying internet access and mobile penetration levels.

As account opening modes transform from in-person transactions to in-person remote events, the question, ‘is the client legitimate?’ becomes difficult to answer. Moreover, with the growth of digital businesses comes the growth of fraud and risk. So it’s critical for banks, financial services providers, and non-financial banking institutions (NBFCs) to ensure a secure verification process from the point of onboarding.

Interestingly, over the last few years, video/online KYC has revolutionalized the KYC process between banks and consumers, whether it happens in person or remotely. In addition, consumers have also become habituated to smartphone verification as it becomes part of an account opening process or ongoing banking transactions.

Fintech For Five Trillion- Together, We Shall

The payments revolution also drives other shifts within the ecosystem, particularly in the lending industry, as banking and financial services move away from conventional operating methods. We are seeing more “openness” from the overall digitization of products, services, and offerings to API unification across some of the larger banks in India. Banks also collaborate with fintech industry startups to bring some innovative products to life.

These collaborative projects, along with new initiatives by the government, including the open banking drive, have propelled India to the forefront.

At the organization level, high-growth companies need working capital to ensure their innovative ideas and services can launch successfully. These companies may be smaller compared to typical multinational corporations. If they are being evaluated using traditional financial instruments used by banks and NBFCs, they would be less likely to get approval for the loans required because several data points wouldn’t be available. As part of the government’s vision to bring the Indian population into the digital age, IndiaStack and other vital frameworks help make some of these data points available.

On the consumer level, with the amount of transactional data available as digital activity increases, data privacy and security will be of concern. For example, how risk profiles are being built from payment transaction data, what is in payment transaction data, how fraud is being managed, etc. – these topics that we often hear from consumers, banks, and the fintech industry.

Fintechs Are Improving

Although Fintech has seen considerable developments in the past few years, creating a new-age financial framework in a country with diverse demographic and linguistic diversity can be daunting.

All stakeholders, from banks, fintech companies, financial services firms, government regulatory institutions, and value-added services, must address the current challenges and ensure inclusive growth through valuable innovative services and products.

Some more improved and relevant fintech innovations include:

Fraud-proof e-Stamp with unique identification number
E-Way bill – a goods movement compliance mechanism
GeM- Government e-Marketplace
TReDS- Trade Receivables Discounting System that facilitates MSMEs to receive payments from any corporates through e-banking rightly
GSTN for any checking claim on input tax credit
Bharat Bill Payment System- an integrated bill payment system where customers can through a network of registered agents through multiple payment modes.

It is necessary to supplement these initiatives with strong policy measures that enable their adoption at scale rather than just being siloed and fragmented success stories.

New-To-Credit (NTC) Customers And Risk Management

India’s current credit gap is nearly INR 16.6 lakh crore. Most of these are small-ticket loans sought by New To Credit(NTC) customers or individuals. They are usually unserved or underserved by conventional financial companies. Financial technology startups are striving to bridge this credit gap with flexible loans. They combine low-cost digital payment modes with innovative delivery models and data science to assess creditors’ creditworthiness and avoid payment defaults.

Many verification tech providers using traditional data points effectively exclude most of India’s population because many of us are new to credit. An excellent financial technology service provider should ensure accessibility with documents such as passports, driver’s licenses, residence permits, and of course, Aadhaar. They need to provide the right resources

Alternative credit scoring is also part of our solution for Indian companies. Credit scoring impacts how businesses evaluate their prospects and customers, from insurance to Ola or Uber rides. Consumers without specific financial data points aren’t necessarily unlendable. De-risking through a broad exclusion of NTC customers in India means losing out on a significant potential consumer base. Multi-platform score, joint modeling, and email detection are part of what we can offer as a more comprehensive alternative scoring solution. I think it’s also noteworthy that these data and insights don’t just help verify customers; they also help businesses build a better understanding of their customers and make better decisions for a longer-term business impact.

Why And How Signzy Enables Financial Companies With The Goal

At Signzy, we consider all the above concerns while crafting solutions. To improve digital payment penetration, we create resources that require very little expertise to integrate and, more importantly- use.

NTC customers need special attention, which we ensure with good ID Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for documents and Face Recognition tech for individuals. It will help make sure businesses can recognize high-risk and unsuitable customers right at the beginning and in an automated fashion.

All this is done using No-Code AI-driven resources that can be integrated seamlessly. We also have patented tech and no code workflow builders that shape the new edge tech required in the market.

So if you seek to improve your venture’s processes, Signzy certainly can help you. Check out our website.

About Signzy

Visit www.signzy.com for more information about us.

You can reach out to our team at reachout@signzy.com.

Written By:

Signzy

Written by an insightful Signzian intent on learning and sharing knowledge.

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