With social distancing as the key preventive measure in the going global pandemic, expecting customers to come to the branches of RE’s, i.e. Banks, NBFCs, etc. seems out of the question. The biggest casualty of this situation would be the Know Your Customer (KYC) process which needs verification of documents and other aspects of a customers’ identity.
Fortunately, technology is the answer to this predicament. And the ball was already set rolling in 2019 when the Government of India had notified an amendment to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005. This amendment permitted the use of a Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) to establish a customer’s identity for the Know Your Customer (KYC) process.
While the original intent was to help financial institutions streamline the customer onboarding procedure, V-CIP has become the frontline tool in the Business Continuity Plans implemented during this global pandemic.
To understand how V-CIP is essential to business continuity, we will have to understand how it works. Here’s a quick snapshot.
- Customer raises a V-CIP verification request.
- Customer feeds in Aadhar data in a link provided by RE.
- Two-way video call is initiated between agent and customer.
- Customer shows PAN card on the video call.
- Customer’s photo and PAN card photo are clicked and time-stamped.
- Customer’s photo is geo-tagged to ensure the call is made from within India.
- Aadhaar and PAN details are verified with issuing authority. Customer’s face is verified with the document provided.
- Process complete.
As we can see, there’s no need for a physical interaction between the customer and the RE. Also, the entire process doesn’t need to visit a branch. This is the need of the hour today.
Since RBI guidelines state that the safety of the data collected during the call lies with the RE, it becomes essential for them to deploy a solution at their end. Rather than spending efforts and money on developing an in-house solution many RE’s have chosen out-of-the-box options.
The Solution:
There are only a handful of V-CIP solutions in the market today. However, of the available options, Veri5 VCIP is a promising one. Not only does it strictly adhere to the RBI guidelines but it also goes beyond the brief.
Here’s a quick look that gives Veri5 VCIP the edge. The processing time is less than one minute including digitizing document collection and AI face authentication. Veri5 allows live video authentication by matching the photo on ID document with live video. To prevent misrepresentation, the process ensures the person is present through a liveness check. Lastly, the Veri5 process is platform agnostic and can be easily integrated with the RE’s existing mobile or web customer applications.
Veri5 VCIP offers an optional upselling module that allows RE’s to make smart product suggestions during the call.
Needless to say, the current scenario has accelerated the need for V-CIP solutions. Financial institutions will need to embrace technology-based KYC not only for their financial benefits but also to ensure business continuity.
