Emily, a seasoned compliance officer, remembers the days when performing a KYC (Know Your Customer) refresh meant a mountain of manual work. Tasked with ensuring her financial services firm remained compliant with evolving regulations, Emily had to juggle stacks of outdated spreadsheets, endless email threads, and hours of manual data verification.
But today, thanks to iComply’s streamlined platform, Emily’s team has revolutionized their approach to KYC refreshes, making them faster, more accurate, and far less stressful. Here’s a look at how she transformed her processes and achieved compliance with confidence.
Step 1: Planning and Preparation
Previously, Emily’s KYC refresh process began with manually identifying accounts due for updates. This meant combing through spreadsheets to cross-reference customer profiles with regulatory requirements—a time-consuming and error-prone task.
Now, with iComply, Emily’s team uses automated workflows to flag accounts requiring a refresh based on predefined rules, such as changes in risk profile or regulatory deadlines. This automation ensures no account is missed and allows her team to focus on higher-value tasks.
Checklist for Planning and Preparation:
Identify accounts needing updates based on risk or regulatory timelines.
Use automated tools to flag accounts requiring a refresh.
Ensure all necessary customer data is centralized and accessible.
Step 2: Customer Outreach
In her previous role, Emily spent hours crafting individual email templates and following up with customers to gather updated documentation. Tracking responses was chaotic and often resulted in delays.
With iComply, Emily’s team now automates customer outreach. Personalized requests for updated documents are sent through a secure portal, complete with clear instructions. Customers appreciate the seamless experience, and Emily’s team can track responses in real time.
Checklist for Customer Outreach:
Automate personalized outreach to customers with secure communication tools.
Provide clear instructions and a user-friendly portal for submitting updates.
Monitor responses and set reminders for follow-ups.
Step 3: Document Verification
Manual document verification was one of the most time-consuming parts of Emily’s old workflow. Her team had to manually check IDs, match information, and ensure authenticity.
Now, iComply’s platform automates document verification with advanced AI-driven tools. These tools cross-reference submitted data against global watchlists, ensuring compliance while significantly reducing errors and processing time.
Checklist for Document Verification:
Use automated tools to verify submitted documents.
Cross-check customer data with global sanctions and PEP lists.
Flag discrepancies for manual review.
Step 4: Risk Assessment and Scoring
Previously, performing a risk assessment involved manually calculating scores based on various risk factors, often requiring input from multiple teams. This process was not only inefficient but also inconsistent.
With iComply’s integrated risk assessment tools, Emily’s team now generates consistent and accurate risk scores automatically. This allows for quick identification of high-risk customers who may require enhanced due diligence.
Checklist for Risk Assessment:
Automatically calculate risk scores based on predefined criteria.
Review flagged accounts for potential issues.
Update customer profiles with risk assessments.
Step 5: Reporting and Compliance
One of Emily’s biggest challenges used to be generating compliance reports for internal audits and regulatory reviews. Gathering data from disparate sources often led to delays and incomplete records.
With iComply, reporting is now effortless. The platform generates comprehensive audit trails, ensuring Emily’s team is always prepared for regulator inquiries. This gives her the confidence to demonstrate compliance at any time.
Checklist for Reporting:
Generate audit trails automatically to track all actions.
Prepare compliance reports with detailed documentation.
Ensure records are stored securely for easy access during audits.
Transforming Compliance with iComply
Today, Emily no longer dreads KYC refresh cycles. By leveraging iComply’s advanced platform, her team has:
Reduced manual work by automating repetitive tasks.
Improved accuracy with AI-driven document verification and risk scoring.
Enhanced customer experience with seamless, secure communication.
Gained confidence in their compliance readiness through robust reporting tools.
For Emily, the difference is night and day. With iComply, her team not only meets regulatory requirements but also sets a higher standard for efficiency and customer trust.
Whether you’re a compliance officer like Emily or part of a team managing KYC processes, iComply can help you streamline workflows, reduce costs, and build a program that’s ready for the future of compliance.
When Mark, a cofounder of a fast-growing fintech startup in the UK, realized his company needed to adhere to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards for KYB, KYC, and AML, he was overwhelmed. As his business scaled rapidly, the complexities of compliance threatened to slow down operations and erode investor confidence. Here’s how Mark built an effective AML program that not only met regulatory requirements but also became a cornerstone of his company’s success—all with the help of iComply’s innovative platform.
Step 1: Understand the Regulatory Requirements
Mark started by diving into the regulatory frameworks his company needed to follow. In the UK, the FCA’s stringent requirements on KYB and KYC processes set the standard. Mark also reviewed global guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the EU’s AML Directives to ensure his company’s policies aligned with international best practices.
Mark’s Checklist for Understanding Regulations:
Identify the specific regulations relevant to your industry and jurisdiction.
Consult official resources from regulatory bodies like the FCA or FATF.
Seek expert guidance or use tools that summarize complex requirements.
Step 2: Conduct a Risk Assessment
Next, Mark conducted a detailed risk assessment, analyzing his fintech’s customer base, transaction types, and geographic exposure. With iComply’s support, he categorized his customers by risk levels and identified high-risk activities requiring Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD).
Mark’s Checklist for Risk Assessment:
Map out your customer demographics and transaction patterns.
Identify high-risk geographies and customer profiles.
Document risks and prioritize them for action.
Step 3: Develop and Document Policies and Procedures
Mark knew that robust policies and procedures would be the backbone of his AML program. iComply’s policy and procedure documentation tools helped him create clear guidelines for:
Customer Due Diligence (CDD): Verifying identities and monitoring activities.
Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Extra checks for high-risk scenarios.
Use customizable templates to address specific business needs.
Ensure policies cover all required areas, from CDD to reporting.
Review and update documentation regularly.
Step 4: Appoint an AML Compliance Officer
Mark appointed Emily, a dedicated AML Compliance Officer, who used iComply’s tailored training resources to hit the ground running. Emily took charge of:
Implementing and managing the AML program.
Acting as the primary contact for regulators.
Ensuring the team’s adherence to policies.
Mark’s Checklist for Appointing an Officer:
Select someone with expertise in AML and compliance.
Provide them with authority and resources to act effectively.
Offer ongoing training and support.
Step 5: Train Your Team
Mark’s entire team needed to understand their roles in compliance. Using iComply’s AML training modules, he ensured employees could recognize and report suspicious activities.
Mark’s Checklist for Training:
Schedule regular training sessions tailored to job roles.
Include practical examples of red flags and reporting processes.
Update training materials as regulations evolve.
Step 6: Implement Technology Solutions
To support compliance, Mark integrated iComply’s platform into his operations. The platform provided holistic, integrated solutions to streamline and connect his KYB, KYC, and AML workflows. iComply provided:
Policy and Procedures: Streamlined creation of up-to-date workflow documentation.
KYB Automation: Onboard corporates and identify their directors, officers, beneficial owners, and other related parties.
AML Automation: Screen and monitor all clients and related parties in real time for new sanctions, political exposure, crime, money laundering and terrorist financing.
Audit Support: Tools for managing records and preparing reports for reviews.
Mark’s Checklist for Technology:
Identify gaps in your compliance processes that technology can address.
Select scalable, user-friendly solutions.
Test systems thoroughly before implementation.
Step 7: Monitor and Audit Regularly
Regular audits became a cornerstone of Mark’s compliance strategy. iComply’s platform helped him organize documentation and streamline audit preparation, ensuring a smooth process during regulatory reviews.
Mark’s Checklist for Monitoring and Auditing:
Conduct regular internal reviews of compliance practices.
Maintain a clear audit trail with organized records.
Engage third-party experts for independent assessments.
Step 8: Foster a Culture of Compliance
Mark and his cofounders led by example, embedding compliance into the company’s values.
Mark’s Checklist for Culture:
Communicate the importance of compliance at all levels.
Recognize and reward compliance efforts.
Encourage employees to report concerns without fear of retaliation.
Step 9: Report and Respond to Incidents
When suspicious activity arose, Mark’s team acted quickly. This ensured prompt submission of SARs and effective incident resolution.
Mark’s Checklist for Incident Response:
Establish clear procedures for identifying and reporting issues.
Train staff on how to handle incidents.
Review incidents to strengthen future prevention efforts
Step 10: Stay Current with Regulatory Changes
With iComply’s regulatory updates to their platform, Mark stayed ahead of new requirements. This proactive approach allowed his company to adapt seamlessly to evolving standards without the need for a big technical lift.
Mark’s Checklist for Staying Current:
Subscribe to updates from relevant regulatory bodies.
Participate in industry forums and workshops.
Regularly review and update AML policies
Building Trust Through Compliance
Thanks to iComply, Mark transformed a daunting compliance challenge into a streamlined, cost-effective process. His fintech now operates with confidence, meeting FCA standards and building trust with customers, investors, and regulators. By following Mark’s example, you too can create an AML program that safeguards your organization and supports sustainable growth.
If you’re in the process of implementing or revising your money laundering and financial crime protocols, you’ve no doubt come across the many terms and acronyms associated with financial regulations. As fintech and related financial crime mandates continue to evolve, many teams find it difficult to stay on top of new terms, entities, and other relevant organizations you need to know.
At iComply, we’re honored to help you build transparency with your own clients and gain access to a range of trusted resources to stay compliant with jurisdictional guidelines, as well as protect your organization when it matters most. As an innovative provider of an award-winning Know Your Customer-focused suite of modular software, our team is here to make sure you’re able to stay in the know when it matters most.
Below, we’ll cover the 10 most common terms found within the fintech and financial regulation technology (regtech) markets. Read on to learn more!
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
Money laundering is one of the biggest threats to today’s global market, with an estimated USD $800 million to $2 billion being laundered each year. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) legislation and regulation play an important role in safeguarding both businesses and their customers against fraudsters, as well as limiting the negative effects of common financial and asset-based crimes such as terrorist funding, human trafficking, the drug trade, and much more.
AML regulations hold banks and other financial institutions that issue credit or deposit accounts to specific standards in an effort to prevent money-laundering activities through these types of accounts.
API
Within the fintech industry, you will often come across the term “API”, which is short for Application Program Interface. APIs are digital tools that enable different disconnected computer programs to talk to one another and—in the case of KYC protocols—share customer due diligence data and documents with greater simplicity, reliability, and accuracy.
CDD/EDD
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) refer to the building of customer risk profiles based on key information gathered during onboarding. The ultimate goal of CDD is to identify customers and their current and historical financial activity, generate a customer risk profile, and assess all relevant information with basic CDD, Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), or Simplified Due Diligence (SDD) for enhanced transaction monitoring and ongoing risk reporting.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) enable peer-to-peer exchanges of digital securities, cryptocurrencies, and other virtual assets without the need for a centralized fail-safe like those required by a banking institution. Decentralized exchanges are often in the news with cryptocurrency-related matters. With no third party involved in the handling of funds, monitoring transactions for fraud risk can be difficult but essential for preventing financial crime.
False Positives
False positives refer to any test results that incorrectly flag a user or incident for a nonexistent violation. As one of the biggest hurdles for identity verification and KYC programs to overcome, false positives are a key regtech term to learn. Even the most refined anti-fraud software will still occasionally produce a false positive. With the right verification protocols in place, well-executed AML and KYC practices will be able to catch false positives and quickly rectify the situation.
GIFCS
The Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors (GIFCS) is a long-established group of financial services supervisors that are focused on promoting the adoption of international regulatory standards—especially in the banking, securities, fiduciary, and AML/CFT sectors. The GIFCS represents the interest of its jurisdictional members for various banking matters under the umbrella of funds and securities activities.
Know Your Customer (KYC)
Know Your Customer (KYC) is a mandatory information gathering and screening procedure that businesses and financial institutions must follow in order to properly verify the identity of new and existing clients. KYC standards apply outside financial services and encompass any business where money laundering or terrorist financing risk exists.
Security Token
A security token refers to either a physical or digital device that allows an individual to provide two-factor identification and verify their identity when logging into a service online.
Travel Rule
The Travel Rule, also known as FATF’s Recommendation 16, refers to stipulations placed on monetary and virtual asset exchanges occurring on decentralized exchanges such as the cryptocurrency market. This recommendation seeks to add additional information to transactions to sufficiently identify the originator as well as the beneficiary.
Virtual Asset
Virtual Asset refers to any digital or non-tangible asset that can be assigned a monetary value and exchanged as currency or used for investment purposes.
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Stay in the Know with iComplyKYC
Curious to learn more key terms relevant to the fintech and regtech markets? Take a look through our glossary of current terms and acronyms on our site here.
At iComply, we know that staying on top of fraud can be tough. That’s why we’re proud to offer a truly end-to-end KYC solution for businesses and institutions across North America and Europe. Designed with ease of use and seamless integration with your existing workflows, iComplyKYC makes financial compliance simple and streamlined.
Discover how we do it by talking to our team today and booking a demo of our modular KYC platform solutions.
learn more
Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?
iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.
In today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, data privacy and security are more crucial than ever for compliance teams. As regulations tighten and cyber threats evolve, businesses must prioritize innovative solutions. Enter edge computing, a game-changer for KYC,...
FinCEN’s New Geolocation Rules: How iComply Can Help
Stay ahead of FinCEN’s stricter KYC requirements with iComply’s advanced geolocation and biometric verification technology. Enhance compliance, prevent fraud, and maintain a seamless user experience.
Discover how modern KYB technology is simplifying business verification, making it faster, more secure, and user-friendly. Learn how automated checks, biometric verification, and real-time compliance can benefit your business.
Introducing our latest notes from iComply’s most comprehensive release yet, including the launch of iComplyKYC Developer Licenses
2021 has been a fruitful year thus far, with the addition of more workflow automation, enhanced security features, and several UI enhancements. Most notably, the iComplyKYC platform now includes major updates to Legal Entity onboarding and management, as well as key fixes for document jurisdiction selection and expiry dates.
Major Product Highlights:
UPDATE: Data Match Logic Improvement Improvements have been made to how data points such as Name and Date of birth are extracted from client ID and compared against the personal details they have submitted. Live face matching has been enhanced to allow greater flexibility and confidence in liveness tests and biometric authentication. Randomized testing procedures, deep fake detection, and hardware security detection are run and results documented for you instantly.
UPDATE: Jurisdiction Section Now Populated for Passports Your end-users can now select their country of jurisdiction when they are asked to submit an image of their passport. This additional data point will appear on their natural person profile, viewable in your admin dashboard.
UPDATE: UX/UI Changes to Legal Entity Address Section Large organizations often operate from multiple locations, so we’ve made it easier to manage multiple legal entity addresses. The address component on Legal Entity profiles has been newly enhanced, with sortable location details for easier search and a special HQ icon to designate the entity’s headquarters. Collect addresses through client submissions, or manually add your own through the Legal Entity profile.
UPDATE: Legal Entity Management Now you can securely onboard businesses, verify their identity, addresses, and affiliated entities to better analyze for risk, control, and ultimate beneficial ownership. Legal Entity portals support workflows for onboarding, user authorization & authentication, and supporting document collection and encryption.
UPDATE: Request Client Update Invite your clients or users to your secure KYC portals where they can submit, authenticate, and encrypt their KYC data and supporting documents before it leaves their device. Say goodbye to unsecured email transfers of sensitive identity documents and personal information! Get notified with alerts of new submissions to your client’s KYC Profile and stay on top of your compliance tasks with this exciting new platform feature.
UPDATE: KYC Review Date Set calendars to automate KYC reviews and trigger KYC refreshes. Stay on top of all of your accounts so your business continues to grow.
FIX: Document Expiry Logic Updated We’ve fixed a bug that previously only allowed platform users to set the expiry date for an identification document now or in the past. We’ve also improved the clarity of the Issue that appears when a document has a date that cannot be read.
NEW FEATURE: Clarification Message When Entering Dates We live in a world with multiple date formatting options, and it can be confusing to know which format is preferred when entering a date. We’ve added text in our portal that clarifies to your end-users the Date they have entered, based on your preferred date format. This gives them the opportunity to correct it in real-time and minimize incorrect submissions.
Implementing a KYC, AML, or digital identity management solution need not be exhausting or expensive, yet many of our clients have shared horror stories of the high costs and lengthy processes required to set up, maintain, and use various competitors’ products. To help companies find the right product fit before making a full commitment, we recently launched our iComply Essentials and iComply Pro Developer Licenses. For a limited trial basis, your team can test platform features, optimize workflows and automation thresholds, and customize integrations.
Developer licenses allow you to:
Create, test, and manage KYC portals for Natural Person and Legal Entities
Request KYC data submissions or updates from clients via your secure portal
Integrate the iComply platform with our powerful REST API
Configure thresholds for auto-acceptance, confidence, and risk levels
Customize supporting documents, workflows, styles, and more
Configure AML search profiles and coverage
Access a limited number of KYC Services for testing
Learn more about our latest features, pricing, and use cases in the iComplyKYC Product Guide. For a walkthrough of our platform functionality and key features, you can book a demo or contact our sales team for more information.
learn more
Is your AML compliance too expensive, time-consuming, or ineffective?
iComply enables financial services providers to reduce costs, risk, and complexity and improve staff capacity, effectiveness, and customer experience.
In today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, data privacy and security are more crucial than ever for compliance teams. As regulations tighten and cyber threats evolve, businesses must prioritize innovative solutions. Enter edge computing, a game-changer for KYC,...
FinCEN’s New Geolocation Rules: How iComply Can Help
Stay ahead of FinCEN’s stricter KYC requirements with iComply’s advanced geolocation and biometric verification technology. Enhance compliance, prevent fraud, and maintain a seamless user experience.
Discover how modern KYB technology is simplifying business verification, making it faster, more secure, and user-friendly. Learn how automated checks, biometric verification, and real-time compliance can benefit your business.
