South African regulation technology company, e4 recently launched its Virtual verification of identity (VOI) service in Australia.
Founded in 2000 in South Africa, e4 offers electronic solutions and services to the banking, legal, and governmental sectors. e4 is a software and technology firm that offering services to major financial institutions, as well as over 2,500 legal firms and government bodies.
e4’s flagship products include property transfer and conveyancing platforms, document automation platforms, and digital signature solutions. As part of global expansion strategy, the company now has establishments in UK, USA, Australia, and Mauritius.
The virtual VOI allows lenders and mortgage brokering businesses to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards. For example, new customers can be verified using relevant anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards through a cloud-based application.
In addition to ease of compliance to standards, the new VOI measures enable cost savings and better customer and workforce convenience. The biometric facial recognition software uses secure video and audio calls, ID documentation (identification documents like driving license or passport).
A broker or lender can start a video or audio call with a customer, asking them to provide photo identification and other supporting documents, which have already been verified through the Australian Attorney General’s Department Documentation Verification Service (DVS), thereby cutting down on verification time.
The broker will then perform a facial match to the ID documentation and validate the location of the customer. Results will be generated, a report is provided and checked against local and international watch lists, and used for future use.
Managing Director of e4’s Australian branch, Stuart Hosford opines that the new system will significantly streamline regulatory programs and reduce time and efforts required in the verification process. He stated,
We know that today’s customer is time poor at best, so the opportunity to cut out the need to visit a branch or post office in person to verify their identity will be welcome one. From an organization’s perspective, a Virtual VOI call not only cuts down on costly hours spent on customer scheduling and follow up, but also provides a reliable, consistent and scalable mechanism to manage their Know Your Customer (KYC) regulatory programs.
Virtual VOI is currently available on Android and iOS devices.
