CySEC changes leading the way for electronic ID verification

Since our last visit in May 2016, Cyprus has continued to be a hot-bed for many online investment and trading companies.  Our previous interaction with CySEC regulated organisations told us that these businesses are thirsty to move beyond manual process for KYC. For many online brokers in Cyprus, having to collect physical evidence of identification makes them lose their competitive edge when compared to organisations in the UK where electronic ID verification is seen as a compliant , secure way of on-boarding individuals to conform to KYC.

So why do more and more businesses want to move to an automated process?

The current manual processes produce:

1. Poor conversion rates. The sheer amount of friction during the on-boarding process means many customers are failing to complete.
2. Prohibitively long on-boarding. On-boarding times for many organisations are incomparable to leading FinTech firms – in some cases taking as long as 72 hours. These delays are a problem for clients who’re often trading in volatile markets, and are thus reliant on speed and agility.
3. Operational constraints. Employment of numerous staff whose main job is to collect and review identity documents. When budgets are tight and markets uncertain, each and every staff member is incredibly valuable.

GBG ID3global enables firms to electronically verify individuals internationally by cross referencing an individual’s information against multiple datasets in sub seconds. GBG use both positive and negative data checks, and all of our data is regularly updated to ensure its quality. Our document image validation solution also ensures that when companies are receiving images of documents they are validated for a number of authenticity and forgery checks - so companies truly know that they are on-boarding real identities. As well as validating the identity elements against data sources, we also provide Forex organisations with watchlist and PEP screening, custom profile scoring, and clear audit trails

Windsor Brokers, headquartered in Cyprus, became one of the first CySEC regulated organisations to make the transition to electronic verification. This has enabled them prepare for changed in Cypriot regulations as well as using our ongoing monitoring solution.

In this ever growing digital and modern era, adapting to change is essential. As shown with CySEC publishing the "Directive DI144-2007-08(A) of 2016 regarding the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing". It is now more than ever that organisations need to embrace electronic identity verification.