Address verification is one of the easiest and most effective ways to bolster your company’s security. This process involves gathering address information, verifying correct addresses and flagging accounts that are not using valid addresses. Thanks to modern technology, you can efficiently verify addresses in the background while performing other identity checks.
Address verification is important for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. But as fraudsters become more advanced, address validation has also become more challenging. Compliance requirements are continuously evolving, and verifying address matches now takes more data and scrutiny than ever before. Luckily, new tools are streamlining the address verification process and reducing friction for business owners and their customers.
Compliance Challenges in Address Verification
Address verification is a key step in maintaining compliance across industries. However, the verification process can vary depending on the type of industry and its services.
Finance
Address verification is an important part of the AML screening process in the finance industry. The address verification process can jumpstart identity verification as a whole, which can save time and improve the user experience for financial services. Address verification is a key part of Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance for financial institutions, so it’s important to provide quick, secure, and accurate verification. However, compliance can be challenging because regulations often change. Plus, financial institutions face severe penalties if they do not meet compliance requirements.
Healthcare
Healthcare is another industry that needs to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to address verification. Having an incorrect address on file for a patient can affect prescription refills, slow down the patient intake process and also cause a host of problems when filing insurance claims. For healthcare providers, using the right address verification tool boosts KYC compliance and also eliminates stress during the patient intake process. These tools ensure you always have the correct information, while also helping you build trust with those in your care. Like financial services, healthcare is an industry that can face severe penalties for not meeting compliance regulations, so it’s especially crucial for those in this industry to stay on top of their address verification process.
Gaming and Retail
For industries like gaming and retail, automated address verification helps you improve your conversion and sign-up rates while reducing fraud. It’s also an essential part of your overall user experience. For example, verifying a mailing address allows for quick and secure mobile checkouts. You can also use address verification as an extra security tool before granting customer account access. In the gaming industry, address verification is often used during onboarding along with other checks such as age verification. Verifying international addresses is key to preventing fraudulent activity while creating a fast and secure gaming experience for users across the globe. Those in gaming and e-commerce must understand how to verify an address efficiently while meeting all compliance regulations. However, the process must also be simple and secure for users, who might switch to a competitor’s product if your onboarding process is slow or complicated.
Data Privacy and Protection Laws
Businesses must understand and comply with the various laws designed to protect consumers and the financial system as a whole. Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to a set of procedures, laws and regulations designed to stop criminals from generating income through illegal actions. AML screening software lets companies meet their regulatory requirements by helping to keep money launderers off their platforms.
AML compliance also requires Know Your Customer (KYC), a legal process for verifying the identities of the customers and third-party businesses who are using your services. KYC compliance is a legal requirement for financial institutions and other regulated industries. AML also requires other internal forms of monitoring and auditing. Tools like address checkers, ID verification and face-based biometrics help businesses meet AML standards.
Finally, it’s important to note that compliance regulations can vary based on your location. For instance, businesses operating in the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) must follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance laws. The GDPR requires organizations to protect a user’s personal data during the identity verification process. Those in California must comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which is another set of laws put into place to protect a user’s privacy. For those looking to verify a new address or collect basic information, these regulations can seem overwhelming. However, with the right tools, compliance is easier than you might expect.
Technology to Streamline Address Verification and Maintain Compliance
So what tools are available to make regulatory compliance easier for businesses? There are plenty of options, which means it’s easy to find a tool that matches your needs and your industry. For example, there are applications that provide real-time verification of address data, such as address format, street address, street name, postal code and more. These solutions help businesses create accurate datasets and understand their client base as well as possible.
Jumio’s Address Checks are automated, cloud-based proof-of-address services. The Address Validation service checks the extracted address against trusted address databases (e.g., United States Postal Service, Royal Mail). This step ensures the address is in the proper format and exists in a given jurisdiction. The Proof of Residence service then makes sure the person actually lives there.
Automating the verification process is one of the easiest ways to streamline your business operations. When you use technology to validate and corroborate addresses, you make security checks as easy as possible for your users. Automation also helps ensure that you’re staying compliant with KYC and AML regulations. Of course, the level of automation you need will depend on your organization’s use cases. For some, automation can be as simple as prompting the user with address correction when typos are detected to ensure they’re entering a standardized address. Or automation can involve using geocoding or autocomplete forms to make it easier to confirm your user’s location. However, other businesses might consider automating the entire address verification process. Regardless of your needs, there are tools available that can help.
When choosing a tool, make sure that it is designed to help you meet the regulations of your specific location and industry. Also, be sure your software providers are using verified sources with the right data quality to confirm complete address information. For example, some address verification APIs perform a lookup of American postal address databases such as the USPS. This database contains highly accurate data thanks to the ease with which consumers can report their change of address. Also, before you choose an address verification tool, explore the company’s website to ensure that they are gathering data in a safe and ethical manner.
Keep Compliant and Advance Your Verification Technology
Address verification is essential for online business operations. Whether you’re in finance, healthcare, e-commerce, gaming or another industry, verifying addresses will help you understand your clientele, stay compliant with federal regulations, and stop fraudulent activity in its tracks.
As the online landscape continues to grow, new identity verification businesses are constantly being created to help companies know and trust their users online. This means that you have more choices than ever before when it comes to identity verification technology and solutions. Choosing the best technology for your needs depends on many factors specific to your needs. In all cases, selecting a tool that helps you optimize user experience while also assuring you meet KYC and AML compliance regulations will set you up for success when it comes to address verification.
Jumio’s address verification services are available as part of the Jumio platform, allowing businesses to easily implement identity verification, risk signals, AML screening and more from a single API. To learn more, just fill out this form, and a solution expert will be in touch shortly.
