An effective ID&V (Identification and Verification) process is more than just a regulatory requirement – it forms a foundation of trust between your organisation and its customers. But when traditional processes fall short, they don’t just frustrate your customers; they create risks that can adversely affect your compliance efforts, operational efficiency, and reputation. 

Yet, many ID&V processes are not up to the high standard today’s customers expect. Data shows that as much as a quarter of customers abandon onboarding when faced with cumbersome verification steps, leading to significant revenue losses. 

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Here’s what poor remote ID&V processes are costing you – and practical ways to fix these issues before they harm your customers, your compliance standing, or your business’ success.

Inefficient processes are overloading your team

When a customer’s ID verification fails due to outdated workflows or inefficient manual processes, it often ends up on your team’s desk for review. These traditional, labour-intensive methods are a common cause of delays, and each time a verification failure occurs, it forces your team to step in and manually check, cross-reference, and validate ID documents and customer information. What should be a straightforward process quickly becomes a drawn-out, resource-draining task.

The reliance on manual processes and outdated workflows introduces multiple inefficiencies that not only impact the speed of your operations but also leave room for human error. When documents are reviewed manually, your team has to compare information across multiple sources and laborious research, sometimes without access to the right tools or updated data, leading to longer review times.

For your team, this means more time spent on low-value, repetitive tasks rather than focusing on the more complex, risk-based assessments that truly require human expertise. These manual checks often result in frustration, as resources are tied up dealing with issues that technology could address far more efficiently. 

Automating ID&V processes is one of the most effective ways to resolve these challenges. Automated systems can process and verify ID documents in seconds and at scale, match them against customer selfies, and run checks against global watchlists and databases in seconds, allowing you to streamline onboarding while maintaining compliance.

Compliance at the expense of customers

You’re already under pressure to meet stringent AML obligations, and your team can’t afford gaps in your ID&V processes. Weak processes increase the risk of onboarding bad actors – fraudsters, money launderers, or individuals tied to sanctioned entities. Every time your onboarding process lets one of these individuals slip through, it exposes your business to regulatory fines and reputational damage. 

However, overly rigid systems that create delays for legitimate customers can also pose serious challenges. These delays disrupt workflows, slow down customer onboarding, and waste valuable resources that could be better spent identifying real risks. For customers, these unnecessary hold-ups lead to frustration and confusion, particularly when they are asked to resubmit documents or endure extended waiting times without clear communication.

When your ID&V processes become a bottleneck, customer satisfaction suffers. Customers expect quick, seamless onboarding, and any friction in this process can lead them to abandon their application or, worse, choose to take their business elsewhere.

To avoid both extremes, choose technology that includes comprehensive customer verification. By combining ID document checks with biometrics, address verification, and access to leading data sources, you can streamline the verification process and reduce unnecessary delays. These layers of verification provide a more comprehensive evaluation of your customer’s identity while ensuring the process remains smooth and efficient. 

When your onboarding process is quick, accurate, and easy to navigate, customers are more likely to feel valued, satisfied, and confident in their decision to do business with you.

Problematic false positives

A common challenge in customer verification is the issue of false positives – legitimate customers wrongly flagged as high risk due to manual errors or inconsistent processes. While it may seem safer to err on the side of caution, the consequences of false positives can be damaging. 

Manual false positives can also disproportionately affect customers from certain demographics, regions, or those with names that are common on watchlists, creating an appearance of bias. 

For your customer, it creates unnecessary frustration, delays, and a sense of being unfairly treated, potentially leading them to abandon the process altogether. When a legitimate customer is flagged as high risk, the immediate outcome is often additional scrutiny or delays while your team performs manual reviews. This can feel invasive, as they may be asked to provide further documentation or clarification to prove their legitimacy. These requests can be particularly frustrating if the individual has already completed all requested steps on their end, leaving them confused about why the process is delayed.

For your business, the implications can be even more serious, ranging from reputational harm to bad PR. Customers wrongly flagged may take their grievances public, tarnishing your reputation and raising doubts about your business. Over time, this can also draw the attention of regulators, leading to extra scrutiny and audits, placing further strain on your compliance team.

To minimise false positives, it’s essential to work with identity verification software providers who prioritise data accuracy and coverage, and can provide access to the latest AML watchlists, PEP screening, and sanctions data. This ensures legitimate customers aren’t unnecessarily flagged while high-risk individuals are properly identified.

Frustrated customers are often lost customers

It’s easy to view onboarding failures as just a minor inconvenience to customers, but the risk of getting it wrong is far-reaching. Manual processes are prone to errors, and customers – some tech-savvy, some less so – are often forced to jump through unnecessary hoops because your team has to manually review documents or request clarification on minor issues. For example, when your team struggles with a blurry document or mismatched name formatting, it leads to delays and confusion for the customer.

These aren’t just minor inconveniences; they’re often triggers for customer drop-offs. Repeated manual reviews create friction in the onboarding process, and customers stuck in a cycle of back-and-forth may start to question whether it’s worth the effort.

To avoid this, audit your onboarding journey from start to finish. Is your team unnecessarily burdened with repetitive, low-value tasks that could be automated? Are you asking customers for excessive documentation, or worse, providing unclear instructions? If the process feels like a maze, customers are likely to give up altogether.

Investing in technology that automates and simplifies verification while still adhering to compliance standards can drastically improve the customer experience. Tools that can automatically flag issues with document quality and provide real-time guidance for customers to retake photos or clarify details prevent unnecessary delays. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also frees up your team to focus on higher-value tasks, reducing the likelihood of manual errors that could compromise your compliance efforts. 

A better solution for verifying customers

Improving customer verification starts with adopting remote verification tools and software designed to streamline the process without compromising accuracy or compliance. These solutions offer a faster, more secure way to verify customers, enhancing both their experience and your operational efficiency.

Remote verification tools allow customers to complete ID checks from anywhere, eliminating the need for in-person visits or cumbersome paperwork. With features like document upload portals, selfie verification, and address checks, these tools simplify the process for customers while giving your business the confidence that verification is thorough and compliant with global regulations.

More importantly, modern verification solutions don’t stop at basic ID checks – you can also create custom, end-to-end workflows and user journeys depending on the compliance case at hand. These workflows could also include further client due diligence tasks such as screening against PEP and sanctions lists, adverse media checks, and document authenticity verification. 

For instance, onboarding a customer from a high-risk jurisdiction might trigger enhanced due diligence, such as additional document requests or closer scrutiny of PEP and sanctions databases. Conversely, a customer considered to be low-risk may follow a simpler, more streamlined verification process.

Remote verification software allows businesses to strike the perfect balance between compliance and customer convenience. These tools enable efficient, accurate, and secure onboarding, helping your business build trust while meeting regulatory requirements with ease.