Published on the 14/11/2014 | Written by Newsdesk
New Zealand credit bureau, Veda, is the first company to launch a real-time passport verification service in the New Zealand market…
Veda has built a web service and a business-to-business link to access passport details via the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). Veda customers can use this service to electronically identify their customers which assists in meeting Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act 2009. Passport information is accessed via a secure and encrypted direct link between Veda and DIA. While Veda acts as the intermediary between the customer and DIA passport database (providing the technology, security and user interface), Veda customers will still require acceptance from the DIA before accessing the Passport Verification Service.
Veda has a suite of electronic identity verification products that it says have been developed in direct response to the growing uptake and evolution of digital channels in business. In line with this, Louisa Powell, Veda’s consumer product manager for the new service, said that Veda has launched Passport Verification Service based on customer requests and requirements.
The service is available now to Veda customers, subject to DIA approval, and Powell said Veda has already received strong interest from existing customers with a number of customers singing up for business-to-business access.
“Our customers are using passport verification for a number of reasons, the most common being: online and mobile origination, fraud prevention, and to support compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financial Terrorism Act 2009,” she added.
Veda is the first to offer such a service in the New Zealand market. It was also the first to market with Identity Plus in 2013 – a credit data-based verification solution which also assists its customers in meeting their obligations under the AML/CFT Act 2013.
Veda Managing Director International, John Roberts, said: “’Veda continues to invest to bring innovation to our customers and assist credit providers to deliver real-time processing in on-boarding their customers through the digital channel. Using our Passport Verification Service will allow businesses to bring on new customers and revenue more quickly, and it also benefits consumers by reducing response times.”
