Author: Ady

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5 Best Ways to Protect Businesses From Cyber Attacks

best practices for cyber attack fraud prevention

Businesses of all kinds have an obligation to try and protect their users. Protecting users from cyber attacks is a responsibility that every single business has to take on. Your existing and new customers need to know the best practices they can follow to stay protected. With bad actors becoming more and more creative, you need to be more vigilant and teach your customers to protect themselves from cyber-attacks. 

In this guide, we’ll outline the best 5 ways to protect users from cyber attacks. Let’s dive in.

Best Cyber Security Practices

Even the smallest of mistakes can cost you very dearly if you don’t pay attention online. There are some basic things organizations can do to protect their users and their data. If a hacker or bad actor can gain access to confidential information, it can cost your business millions of dollars. Here’s how to stay safe online:

1. Learn How to Detect Attacks

Cyber attacks can come in any shape and size. They can be in the form of phishing, ransomware, or pretexting. Out of all these attacks, social engineering attacks are the most dangerous and hardest to figure out. Organizations should have the ability to detect them as soon as possible. 

Every single member of your organization should learn how to detect social engineering attacks. Anyone who clicks on the wrong link or sends personal information to the wrong person, it’s an invitation to a data breach. 

Here are some of the most common methods used by bad actors during social engineering attacks:

  • Requests for the user or shared credentials
  • Request for financial or contractual information
  • Requests for user personal information
  • Unusual or suspicious links and files
  • Unusual or suspicious phone calls

2. Educate Users about Devices

To protect your users from cyber attacks, you need to educate them on some things. It helps in ensuring that every member of your organization is aware of the best practices to protect themselves. Businesses should also hold seminars after employee onboarding to prevent cyber attacks.

Whenever your employees leave their desks, they should always lock their devices. Also, setting up personal passwords goes a long way in fraud prevention. You should educate users and refrain from using third-party apps that aren’t trusted.

3. Multi-Factor Authentication and Password Management

If you’re storing user data, and your users can log in to your website, then it’s essential to use multi-factor authentication methods. While a password helps in protecting you, MFA just adds another layer of security for the users and the businesses.

Make sure that all the employees and users change the default passwords as this is one of the biggest ways people get exploited. Also, never ever share passwords. MFA is a key to securing your devices and systems, as it forces the user to verify their identity. As the user has to provide a unique numerical code after entering the username-password, it prevents the risk of credential stealing.

4. Keep Up With Software and Hardware Practices

Software and hardware physical security practices can help ensure that you’re doing all that you can to keep your business secure. It can be anything, from using built-in defense functions or regularly updating software and hardware.

Choosing systems with built-in layers of defense boosts your organization’s cybersecurity the minute they’re running. There are endless solutions containing built-in security functions including data encryption and endpoint protection, these obstacles make it harder for bad actors to access your systems.

When it comes to software updates, most businesses and users ignore their importance. Prioritize updating the software and firmware on all the devices, as this allows them to function at an ideal level.

5. Choose the Ideal Technology

Finding a technology provider that offers all the solutions you need, all the while operating while being transparent isn’t easy. It may take some time to decide which vendor is the right fit for your business. 

Most vendors offer their customer hardening guides, these guides teach users how to keep their devices secure.

Choosing the ideal technology is crucial to a strong cybersecurity strategy. This also includes using the right technology for customer onboarding. DIRO online document verification technology can boost the onboarding process and eliminate the risk of fraud.

When you onboard the right type of users, you automatically reduce the risk of data breaches, account takeover fraud, and so much more.

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Steps Payment Gateway Can Take to Detect and Prevent Online Fraud?

payment gateway fraud prevention

When you have started your online business, you wouldn’t consider online fraud as a challenge when you’re processing less than 10 transactions a day. However, when your business and the number of transactions increase, you need to be more careful. Statistics state that in 2018, US merchants lost an estimated $6.4 billion in payments card fraud. Small businesses especially face the highest number of frauds and an estimate of $155,000 per year.

Credit card processors offer merchants basic security measures to reduce the risks of credit card fraud. Although some merchants don’t offer seller protection, including PayPal, this is the case in the case of digital goods. You can decide which payment gateway to use. This also tells how your business will be protected in case of fraud transactions.

With the digital goods and services landscape on a boom, businesses of all sizes need to re-evaluate their position and tools when it comes to fraud management. In this article, we will take a look at the most effective techniques when it comes to tackling card payment fraud.

How to Prevent Payment Gateway Fraud?

1. Address Verification Solution

Address verification solutions are used to detect online fraud. When customers purchase items, they have to provide their billing address and ZIP code and address verification solutions check whether this address is real or not. Part of a Card-not-present transaction, the payment gateway can send a request for user verification.’

2. Card Verification Value (CVV)

The CVV or Card Verification Value is a 3 or 4-digit code on credit cards. The code should never be stored on a merchant’s database. A CVV filter acts as an added security layer, allowing only the card owner to use the card. If an order is placed on the website and the CVV doesn’t match, the transaction should not go through. While making a CNP transaction (online, email, or telephone orders), merchants get the required information from the customers.

3. Device Identification

Device identification analyzes the computer instead of the person who’s visiting the website. It verifies the internet service, and browser to see if the transaction has to be approved. All the devices (phones, computers, tablets, etc) have a unique fingerprint, similar to human fingerprints. 

Fraudsters are unable to impersonate a computer’s unique identity, making it a viable option for your business against online payment fraud.

4. Flag Large Transactions

With stolen card information, fraudsters will take a shot at making transactions before the card is blocked. This would be harmful to your business where you’ll have to take on the cost of allowing fraudulent transactions to take place. Constant instances of fraud can lead to payment processors terminating your processing account.

You can easily limit the number of large transactions by specifying a flat amount. In addition to this, you can limit the number of failed transactions.

5. Payer Authentication (3-D Secure)

Payer authentication, sometimes called Verified by Visa (VeB) and MasterCard SecureCode, is a cardholder authentication measure that secures all online transactions for customers. This method allows cardholders to create a PIN that can be used during checkout. By using payer authentication, merchants are offered chargeback protection and lower interchange rates. 

This is one of the most sought-out fraud prevention tools that businesses rely on. 

6. High-Risk Countries

If you’re sending products overseas, then you need to exercise greater caution for these orders. Pay more attention to orders that come from high-risk countries. Customers in these countries need to be verified by the countries before the transactions are processed. 

According to the online fraud guide, some of the highest-risk countries include Israel, Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Yugoslavia.

7. Risk Scoring

Risk scoring tools are based on statistical models designed to recognize fraudulent transactions based on a number of rules and regulations. When a payment is done on your website, the risk scoring tools will indicate the probability of the transactions being fraudulent. A higher probability of a transaction being fraudulent means that you should verify the transaction.

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FinTech Compliance: Are Sponsor Banks Responsible?

fintech compliance

While FinTechs are now offering transactions as part of their service, they aren’t exactly banks and maybe that’s the reason they don’t have as big of a user base as they should. To grow themselves, they partner with a sponsor bank that moves the money between parties. This strategy allows FinTechs to focus on providing better services without them having to jump through hoops and become an official bank.

The sponsor bank is responsible for complying with anti-money laundering regulations and takes on the risks for customers and transactions under the FinTechs. The sponsor bank has to ensure that the FinTech they sponsor has a strong compliance program set in place. There must also be a seamless process for FinTechs to report any suspicious activities. The bank’s own compliance department can investigate and file suspicious activity reports (SAR). 

In January 2021, the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) filed a complaint against “M.Y. Safra Bank” located in New York. The OCC found that they didn’t have an adequate compliance program in place, and when they became a sponsor bank for a FinTech, they failed to give proper consideration to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Specifically, it failed to implement controls to keep up with the increased level of risk, while the bank wasn’t fined, they were ordered to cease and desist.

General Considerations While Building FinTech – Bank Compliance

Different financial services are subject to various laws and regulations, and a FinTech looking for successful bank partnerships needs to make some considerations.

1. Developing a Business Plan

The first step in offering financial services is the development of a business plan that covers the operational, legal, and regulatory guidelines. It is important to remember that even under a bank partnership model, certain states may require loan brokers, lead generators, loan services, and more to be licensed. 

2. Developing and Implementing a Compliance Management System

FinTechs will need to develop and implement a compliance management system, and a comprehensive and integrated compliance program containing written documents, functions, processes, and tools. These can help FinTech comply with legal requirements and reduce consumer harm resulting from violations of law. 

These types of policies are needed will depend on the nature of services offered by FinTechs.

3. Preparing to Partner

Once FinTechs develop business plans, a FinTech seeking to partner with banks needs to define the partnership goals. What does your business want from the partnership? Does FinTech want to own the customer relationship process or data? Does FinTech expect to diversify its business to include additional products moving forward? Not only should FinTech perform diligence on the potential bank partner, but it should also prepare for the bank to perform significant diligence. All of this allows FinTechs to have more control over the direction of the partnerships.

4. Finding the Ideal Partner

The key to finding success in any partnership is for both partners to find the right partners. When it comes to FinTech-bank partnerships, that means finding a bank that has ideal resources, knowledge, and flexibility. 

Similarly, a FinTech active in the small business credit industry may want to work with a bank partner with existing commercial credit programs. Once FinTechs find the right experience has been identified, it’s important to assess the bank’s pricing and ability to scale and help businesses grow.

5. Negotiating Service Provider Agreements

In many cases, a FinTech will need to work with other service providers to its bank partner to provide its proposed financial services. This can include executing contracts with services providers for AML screening, collection services, and call center support. It’s essential that these relationships be established within the framework of the bank partnership model.

Conclusion – FinTech Compliance

If a bank wants to be in a partnership with FinTechs, they have to ensure that those businesses have strong compliance programs. The internal policies must include transaction monitoring and customer due diligence programs. FinTechs should also have ways to detect and report suspicious activities. This allows the banks to keep up with their regulatory obligations. 

FinTechs aren’t regulated and the sponsor bank is the regulated entity to take care of the risks. By using technological solutions such as DIRO online document verification software, FinTechs can achieve industry-wide KYC and AML compliance.

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Guide on Real-Time Payments and Verifying Account Identity

real time bank account verification

NACHA, the Electronic Payment Association overseeing the ACH network, recently made some changes to its Operating rules regarding ACH payments. Based on the new rules, originators or WEB debit entries are asked to use a “commercially reasonable fraudulent transaction detection system” to verify users for fraud. Beginning on March 19, 2021, the rule will change to explicitly require “account validation” or “bank account verification” to be part of the new fraud detection system.

Payment merchants who don’t already have bank account verification technologies in their fraud detection systems need to add them. They should also educate themselves about the rule changes and find ways to comply with the new regulation put out by NACHA. There are tons of educating yourself about the guidelines and how to make sure you’re complying with the regulations.

Bank Account Verification and Fraud

The changes in NACHA rule changes come as faster payment services, these include NACHA’s Same Day ACH. Ever since Same-Day ACH Payments, it has just seen an upward growth. For example, in 2017, Same Day ACH volume exploded by 137% to $159.9 billion in total payments. Although with faster payments, there’s also an increased risk of payment fraud.

“As the adage goes, with faster payments comes faster fraud, so implementing preventative measures upfront to identify fraudulent activity before it is set in motion is receiving the most focus,” said Sarah Grotta, director of Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group.

“When transactions occur within seconds instead of hours or days, there isn’t the time to assess the transaction itself, so ensuring the validity of the account is critical.” Says Mercator Advisory Group.

As bank account verification is crucial, NACHA is making it mandatory for every single ACH transaction. When the changes finally take effect, any and all payment merchants that process WEB debits will need to have a bank account verification solution. All the merchants that use the ACH network will have to comply with this rule. Everyone that originates WEB debits, regardless of business size or industry they’re operating in will have to abide by these new rules. 

As millions of companies across thousands of industries use the ACH payment network, a whole range of use cases may be impacted by the changes in the rules. Here are some of the key payment examples that rely on ACH payments, especially if account information is collected by the originator:

  • Insurance company payments
  • Contributions to individual retirement accounts, SEPs, 401Ks
  • POS purchase
  • Utility payments
  • Tax payments
  • Charitable donations
  • Installment loan payments, including car loans, credit cards, mortgages, HELOCs
  • Membership payments

Account Verification Solutions in Real-Time Payments

Fortunately, the merchants who need to change their fraud screening services can leverage a lot of solutions to be compliant. However, not all the solutions are good enough at stopping fraud or working when it comes to real-time payments.

This is crucial because even if NACHA didn’t change the rules, merchants would be wise to take the account verification process seriously.

One method is ACH prenotification, also known as a prenote. It is a zero-dollar transaction that an originator sends to the issuing company before an actual debit or credit card. The goal is to validate the routing and accounting number at the issuing bank prior to sending through the actual transaction.

Although the prenote is effective at verifying the account number, it doesn’t offer any information about the account itself. It also takes up to three days, making it ineffective for faster payments.

There’s another solution for bank account verification is DIRO online document verification solution. DIRO can verify bank account information using bank statements in real-time by cross-referencing information from the issuing source. DIRO bank account verification solution can be the perfect tool for real-time account validation with faster payments.

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Verizon 2022 Annual Data breach Report

verizon data breach report 2022

The 15 year old tradition is still standing strong with this week’s DBIR Annual Report. In the latest data breach report, Verizon highlighted their analysis of over 5,212 breaches and 23,896 security incidents to find the most common trends used by fraudsters. The 4 most commonly used methods include enterprise estates, credentials, phishing, and exploiting vulnerabilities.

In the report, it was stated that the hackers prefer to exploit the human element (errors, misuse, and social engineering). By combining these elements and the entry points above, hackers find access to organizations and begin stealing data. As a matter of fact, Verizon Data breach report states that 82% of all breaches this year were because of the human element. Human elements can be anything, including errors, misuse, and social engineering. 

Other factors were also included in the high number of data breaches, including:

  • 45% were related to credential resume
  • 25% of breaches were due to social engineering
  • 50% were related to remote access and web apps

Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Report – Takeaway

The core of this year’s data breach report was that the weakest link out of all are humans. The reason for that is simple, it’s because users continue to click on malicious links, and they continue to lose or hand out their credentials. Users all over the world are making the same kind of mistakes that hackers love to exploit. This is what provides hackers the back passage to sensitive systems of a business. While humans are making mistakes, it’s not a surprise as humans are bound to make mistakes. If these reports are scaring you, then worry not, it’s not all bad news, because you can always find ways around this problem.

While eliminating the human element from this equation sounds challenging for businesses, there are other options as well. Verizon recommends the usual approach can reduce usual approach to reduce some challenges, such as two-factor authentication and/or implementing password managers for users, all In an effort to avoid the impact credentials introduce. 

Using this approach, you can reduce the likelihood of attackers being able to exploit poor passwords to gain access to applications,  systems, and data. These capabilities have been available online for use, but the number of data breaches is increasing every single year. 

Let’s focus on credentials for a moment. Why? If you do a quick search for credentials in the report, it appears over 86 times. With that in mind, the report suggests, “unfortunately, if you can access the asset directly over the internet by just entering credentials, so can the criminals.” If we can improve on authenticating users without the use of usernames and passwords, then organizations can reduce the risk of data breaches. 

Another way to reduce the risk of data breaches is by onboarding customers smartly. With DIRO online document verification, businesses can streamline their KYC and KYB verification processes. 

With smarter customer onboarding practices, organizations can save time, money, and effort. DIRO offers a range of verification solutions that can be used for:

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Best Payment Options for an Online Marketplace

online marketplace

The marketplace economy is booming and it is becoming a very profitable industry. Currently, Amazon sells more products online every minute than any other store in the world. Now, think of the millions of other marketplace websites online, and how much revenue they generate every single day. It’s safe to say that online shopping has become our primary method of shopping.

Online marketplaces are websites or apps that connect buyers with sellers, and they offer a great level of convenience for the customers. Marketplaces act like the middleman, providing customers with the products they need by procuring them from the sellers. They charge a certain amount to provide this service. The amount of products that are being sold online has turned “marketplace payment processing” a hot topic. While the “storefront” style of eCommerce stores is still going strong, the changes in technology have provided new methods to connect buyers and sellers. Niche marketplaces are continuing to grow and will keep doing so in the near future. 

With customers spending almost $16 trillion in the Q3 of 2021, it’s more crucial now than ever to integrate payment processing solutions. These can lead to affordable, reliable, and secure collection of funds from customers. Account-to-account payment solutions like ACH, push-to-debit, and real-time payments offer businesses a great way to process payments. 

Instead of relying on outdated methods of payments like cards or paper checks for marketplace payment processing, account-to-account payment processing provides a better advantage to online marketplace owners.

Steps to Improve Marketplace Payments

Every single online marketplace needs to find an ideal platform for online payment processing. Online marketplaces need to have online payment processing methods to run as smoothly as possible when it comes to handling customer payments. 

Marketplaces are constantly accepting payments from buyers and paying their merchants. This is why it’s crucial to have a smooth payment process. But with an unsuitable payments integration. Without it, you may not know about unnecessary charges on both sides of the transaction. If you want your online marketplace to succeed, then you need to collect payments as smoothly as possible.

Important Aspects of Marketplace Payments

You need to make sure that the buying experience for customers is as smooth as possible. The ideal account-to-account payment solution builds a brilliant user experience and allows them to buy whatever they want.

The online marketplace user experience can be broken down into 5 main elements:

  • How easy is it for users to accomplish easy tasks
  • Once the user understands the design, how quickly can they perform a task?
  • Whenever a user returns, how easily can they reestablish proficiency
  • How many errors do the user makes, how severe do these errors are, and can customers prevent from making these errors?
  • Is the design pleasant to use?

Marketplace Payment Processing Options

1. Credit Cards

The first and foremost method should be credit cards. This is because of how commonly they’re used by customers all over the world. Accepting credit cards during the payment part is pretty common. Cards are available everywhere and they provide a convenient user experience for the consumers. Although, these cards are expensive for marketplaces. Most marketplaces tend to increase their prices to keep up with these costs.

2. ACH Payments

ACH payments can get rid of the mailing and managing of paper checks by sending funds from bank to bank accounts. This can reduce the time and cost of making payments for online marketplaces.

As online marketplaces collect payments from buyers and sellers, they need to have a simple monitoring process. ACH Payment integration can help in managing data in an easy-to-use format by monitoring transactions and reporting issues. Online marketplaces need payment service providers that allow businesses to operate smoothly, instead of slowing down the workflow.

3. Instant Payouts to Debit Card

Instantly send money to debit cards with push to debit payments. Online marketplaces can use these payment methods to combine the speed of card transactions and the affordability of account-to-account transfers. Marketplaces businesses want to receive payments quickly and this is a great way to do so.

4. Real-Time Payments

One of the newest payment standards in the United States is the RTP Network which is owned and operated by The Clearing House.

Real-time payments can be initiated at any time of the day. These are balance-sourced account-to-account payments that clear and settle near instantaneously.

How to Secure Payment Process?

While it is important to have a seamless payment settlement process, it is also crucial to make sure that the process is as secure as possible. The online marketplace can reduce the risks of payment fraud by verifying payment merchants before onboarding.

DIRO online document verification solution can be used by online marketplaces to verify online payment processors. This can help in reducing chargeback fraud, and other types of payment fraud.

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6 Relevant Employment & Income Verification Documents

Employment Verification Documents

Sometimes it is not clear what documents are needed to verify an employee. And, therefore, today we will discuss a list of 6 relevant employment and income verification documents that comply with local law. This will make it easier for the employee and the employer to clarify which documents need to be onboarded and verified.

What are Employment Verification Forms?

Employment Verification is needed when a company hires a new candidate and when a lender wants to evaluate an applicant for a new loan. The employment verification helps to make sure that the employee the company is going to hire has held a position in the previous company. This employment verification also helps to sneak a sneak peek into the employee’s responsibility and experience in the previous company.

What is Form I-9?

This document is eligible for each new employee to work in the U.S. Primarily completed by the employer, and this form is mandatory for all the new employees. Form I-9 collects all the documents that are necessary to know an employee’s identity and work state. In the first part of Form I-9, the employees fill their personal information like social security number, name, and address.

And, this form also includes the employer’s proof of an employee’s work eligibility, which is the most important part of Form I-9. There are three categories of documents that need to be completed in Form I-9:

  1. Proof of employment eligibility and identity: This document includes U.S. Passport or Passport Card. Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration, Foreign Passport with Endorsement to Work via Form I-94 or I-551, and Employment Authorization Document Card.
  2. Proof of identity only (must be combined with a document from List C): Current U.S. Driver’s License, Federal, State, or Local ID Card, U.S. Military Card or Draft Record, School ID Card with Photograph, U.S. Coast Guard’s Merchant Mariner Document (MMD), Military Dependent’s ID Card, Canadian Driver’s License, Native American Tribal Document, and Voter Registration Card.
  3. Proof of employment eligibility only (must be combined with a document from List B): U.S. Social Security Account Number Card, Certification of Report of Birth by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Citizen ID Card, Native American Tribal Document, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, and Identification Card for the use of Residents of the U.S.

Let’s understand the Employment Authorization Document issued by the Department of Homeland Security:

The employers must maintain a copy of Form I-9 (completed by employees) three years after the hire date. There are serious penalties and imprisonment for any non-compliance and disclosure.

What is an Employment Verification Letter? 

The Employment verification letter is an Employment Verification documents issued by a new employer that works as proof that the new employee has held a role that they’re claiming to have held. The Employment verification letter is also known as the Proof of Employment.

Employment verification letters can be different in content and format, but this letter mostly helps center the dates of employment, employee responsibility, and employee’s job title. 

Additional information to complete the letter are:

  1. The name and address of the firm requesting the verification letter.
  2. A stand company letterhead or employer business address and name.
  3. The form also includes the job title of the former or current employee.
  4. The joining date of former and current staff members.
  5. Include the salaries and bonuses of former and current employees. 
  6. Lists of the employee’s responsibilities.
  7. Employee’s signature, contact information, and name to make it easier for the recipient to contact the employee.

What is an Unemployment Verification Form? 

Suppose an employee is out of his job or terminated from the firm, with no valid explanation. Then, the employee can apply for the support of the State’s Unemployment Insurance. 

The Unemployment Verification Form may differ in each state, but the employees fill them out. 

And, when you are filling out the Unemployment Verification form, this form includes a section that mentions the employee’s total earnings and reason for termination. 

Therefore, the employers can explain whether the employee’s claims are relevant. 

What are Income Verification Documents? 

If an employee is looking for a new line of credit involved in property-lease negotiations and loan organisation, this demands a verified source of the employee’s total earnings. Therefore, you need income verification documents.

What is a State-specific income verification form? 

Most states have their forms for employment and income verification. In some states, the employer confirms an employee’s earning information with the help of Form H1028. This form is used when an employee cannot provide information related to their earnings. 

What is a Loss of Income Form? 

In Florida, they use Form CS ES 2620. This form helps to document the loss of income. Sometimes, an employee may require verifying proof of income loss related to the current or former job, and in such cases, loss of income forms are useful.

What is Paystub? 

In some cases, Paystub can be used as proof of employee earnings. However, the chances of this document being fake are high, and therefore the employer may demand a more trustable form (State-specific forms) like Form H1028. 

Why is it important to complete an Employment or Income Verification Document?

Both employee and employer must keep all the essential documents. This is an essential part of securing documents related to Income and Employment Verification. 

If there is any false disclosure, then the guilty person needs to face imprisonment and penalties. 

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A Deeper Insight Into Digital Identity – Transforming the Future of Digital Identity

digital identity

The world has gone digital. Work, food, education, entertainment, or everything else you can think of has become completely digital. Your digital identity plays a vital role in how your experiences will be online. If you don’t follow the right measures, hackers can get access to your digital identity. Your digital ID can be sold on the dark web for a couple of dollars. So, what can you do to stay safe online? Before we dive deeper into the concept of digital ID, and how it is slowly changing the way we operate online, let’s try to understand Digital identities.

What is a Digital Identity?

A digital identity is online data that’s connected to an individual, a business, or any entity. This information can be anything ranging from social media posts, banking information, usernames, passwords, or more. Hackers work around the clock to get access to this sensitive information.

Traditionally, proof of identity is something all of us provide to prove we are who we claim to be. Proof of identity is required for a number of reasons. However, when it comes to digital identity, the term is used for digital data or digital interactions.

In both versions of identity, one factor is common. Any version of identity uses credentials and data to identify ourselves, and access products and services. Both traditional identity and digital identity allow users to prove who they are and then access resources. 

At its core, your digital identity is a web of information. Your Digital ID information can include aspects, information, and credentials. Any information that helps you verify your identity, is part of your Digital identity.

For a social media user, their digital identity would include:

  • Personal information (Name, DOB, and more as asked by the platform)
  • Login credentials (usernames, passwords, and biometric data)
  • Any additional information related to user behavior on-site (user permission, subscriptions, connections, settings, etc)

Components of Digital Identity

If you want, you can easily break down digital identities into two primary components:

  • Attributes: Attribute is the information that’s related to your representation in the system. This information includes personally identifiable information (PII) such as ID number, payment details, login credentials, and more
  • Activities: Activities are a record of what you’re doing as a user. All the activities you do become a part of your identity. It can be something as simple as reading comments or posting online. In government environments, these activities include digital signatures, search queries, or legal activities. 

As the world is continuously evolving about digital identity, it makes sense that digital identity data is leveraged to verify identity data.

Challenges and Risk Revolving Around Digital Identity

While there are endless benefits of having a digital identity, they’re also at most risk of getting hacked or stolen. If you’re also concerned about the risk of digital identity verification.

Businesses and other institutions face a lot of challenges while managing digital identities. Here are all the risks of digital identities:

1. Security and Privacy

The biggest question around digital identity data is security. If you have any kind of business, you have to rely on identification and authentication services to protect your systems and the identifying information of your customers and employees. 

2. Regulatory Compliance

Many forms of digital ID also include some type of sensitive data. A user in a healthcare portal will have a corresponding ID that includes protected information under HIPAA. 

3. Ownership and Ethical Handling

Recent data collection processes, especially in the United States, haven’t emphasized user ownership of digital identities. Companies can collect and sell user data as per their preference.

The question of ownership of data and ethical management and use of digital ID is a huge question. Modern compliance frameworks like GDPR and CCPA are attempting to improve the data handling for users. 

4. Fraud

Proving who a user claims to be is crucial for businesses. Without proper measures in place, businesses can end up onboarding fraudsters that look like real users. A hacker can easily use a digital identity for harmful purposes if they want.

Global Impact of the Use of Digital Identities

The above-mentioned challenges are ever-present in the modern digital ID landscape. Digital identities are becoming more crucial for having a proper online experience. Here are some of the recent trends that have come from the use of digital Identity:

  • Modern smartphones have made using digital forms of payment much easier. There is a push in the UK, and the United States to expand the use of this technology. 
  • A major discussion point during the ID2020 summit in New York was for the UN to start considering the potential of blockchain technology. The reliance on digital marketing technology can support universal forms of digital ID verification. 
  • Germany has been circulating E-versions of ID cards for their citizens. While these don’t replace physical IDs, they are used in multiple locations and provide a better online experience. 
  • Canada is also making plans to roll out its digital ID scheme known as the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework to provide national digital IDs and unified logins. 

Conclusion – Understanding Digital Identity

Now that digital identity is about to become an industry standard, verification and authentication of digital identity are becoming crucial. ID management solutions are helping in reducing the challenges in digital ID management. 

Proper adoption of Digital ID can lead to more innovation in several industries. Verifying and authenticating digital Identities is the need of the hour. This can be achieved via online document verification solutions.

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Age Verification: Use Cases, Regulations, and Guidelines

age verification

Digital age verification is crucial in this day and age. So in this article, we will talk about how age verification works, different rules and regulations, and minor protection in different parts of the world. Almost everyone can get easy access to digital products and services. According to a survey in 2015, almost 1.46 billion consumers purchased goods over the internet. This number increased drastically by 46% since 2021. This can be credited to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the current situation of the world, more and more people love to purchase products online. While the rising number of online customers is great for online businesses, it also creates challenges.

Today, minors can easily get access to age-restricted content from all over the internet. Unlike the offline world, where minors can’t get access to alcohol or tobacco, buying goods online is completely different. According to research, more than 1 million minors fell prey to ID theft in 2017, which resulted in a $2.6 billion loss.

What Is Online Age Verification?

Online age verification is a process to protect individuals and audiences from consuming non-age-appropriate content. Merchants of age-restricted products need to take responsibility to sell their services only to people over their age. For online businesses, it is essential to understand the age of their users, and digital age verification is a great way to get around it. It is a safe way for minors to perform online activities, and maintain regulatory compliance.

Digital Age Verification vs Manual Age Verification

Since the inception of adult-based services, verifying your age has become a common practice. Tobacco and alcohol stores don’t allow minors to purchase and consume these products. According to regulations by the Food and Drug Administration (DSA), the minimum age for buying and selling tobacco products is 18. These laws can perfectly work in offline stores as there is someone available physically to verify age. When it comes to online stores, verifying the age of an individual becomes challenging. 

So, it makes sense that minor protection rules should also apply to digital businesses. Digital business vendors often just ask for usernames and passwords to protect the users. There’s a huge need for verifying the age of minors before they interact with these platforms. Fortunately, just recently there have been huge developments in the online age verification methods. 

Compared to a couple of years ago, verifying an individual’s age has become relatively easier by relying on biometrics technology. There are several age verification systems available today that rely on AI and Machine learning to smartly identify if the individual behind the screen is minor or grown-up.

How does Digital Age Verification Work?

Age verification helps businesses onboard legitimate customers and prevent minors from using age-restricted processes. Here’s how most age verification processes work:

1. Submit the Date of Birth

The user has to submit date of birth information including date of birth using an online form as provided by the vendor. 

2. Upload Documents

Users upload date of birth documents that are issued by the government. These include documents such as ID documents, driving licenses, or passports.

3. Verification Process

Based on the information provided by the users, businesses verify the age of the users. This happens by using a document verification solution or an online ID verification solution. Based on this verification, the end-user is verified and declined.

Global Age Verification Guidelines

Different geographical locations have different guidelines when it comes to age verification. If there’s one thing similar about all the guidelines, it’s that all of them focus on parental controls. The main purpose is to make parents aware of appropriate services for their children and obtain consent for the children to use these services. 

1. Age Verification in UK

The UK government made some changes in 2017, to make sure that a country is a safe place for children. Following that, some changes have been made to the laws to limit easy access to age-restricted products and services. 

The online age verification provider, interactiveAgeCheck (iAC) is responsible for minor protection. This is backed by CitizenCard, UK’s biggest photo-ID and age verifier organization. It thoroughly considers recommendations made by the UK Council on Child internet safety.

2. Age Verification in Europe

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is issued by the European Union and applies to the citizens living in EU states. It has a complete set of rules and guidelines for the collection of personal data. This information includes biometrics, health, and genetic information. The GDPR’s Article 8 allows the age of consent to be anywhere between 13-16. This suggests that anyone over the age of 16 in the EU is allowed to consume age-restricted products and services. 

3. Age Verification in USA

The Federal Trade Commission’s minor protection law is named COPPA. It’s one of the most impressive and crucial minor protection laws in the USA. The rule book outlines how companies should collect and verify information related to children under 13. complying with these regulations doesn’t just include age-restricted content warnings, or integrating an age verifier.

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association issued guidelines on restricting career content not suitable for younger audiences. It outlines different content rating standards so that the parents are aware of the type of content suitable for their children. By using internet access control offered by major internet carriers, consumers can limit access to specific websites using filters or block certain websites. 

4. Age Verification in Australia

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (AMCA) put out a new guideline in 2008 to prohibit minors’ access to age-restricted content. These regulations apply to anything aired in Australian media or hosted on TV channels within the country. The broadcasting Services Act of 1992 played a vital role in the development of these frameworks. 

For every content rating group, these rules offer a different set of customer verification, the MA15+ guidelines require:

  • A warning message that the content is MA 15+
  • Safety information for parents to protect their children who are below 15

The RA18+ guidelines contain rules regarding:

  • Warning about the risk of using proof of age by another person or someone who’s not eligible based on their age
  • Consider which evidence is provided, and how it’s presented

Risks of Not Completing Age Verification Checks

There are some risks of not having the age verification methods. These include non-compliance and a drop in market reputation for offline and online businesses at the same time. Generally, the perceived level of risks involved figures out the level of control and application of the regulatory framework.

Here are some risks of not having proper age verification mechanisms in your process:

1. Compromised Market Reputation

Building a great business requires providing customers with the best customer experiences. User satisfaction is crucial in building loyalty for customers and building a good reputation for your brand. Not investing in age verification software can hurt your business by having a negative brand image. Not having a proper age verification process can lead to easy access to age-restricted products and services, it puts minors more at risk. 

2. Non-Compliance fines

All kinds of vendors and organizations have to comply with GDPR, regardless of the type of products and services they offer. The purpose of this regulation is to maintain privacy and secure record-keeping. These regulations are equally important while verifying the age of individuals during onboarding processes. Non-compliance with GDPR can lead to hefty fines for businesses. 

Till 2016, non-compliance fines for COPPA were 160,000, which were later increased to 43,280 dollars.

3. Financial Losses

Online businesses can reduce fraud in chargebacks by parents for non-consenting transactions. Having an age identifier or verification process integrated into your onboarding process can help in reducing financial losses. 

Conclusion: Importance of Age Verification

In the end, the age verification process is crucial to protect the young generation from the adverse effects of age-restricted products and services. Merchants have to take on the social responsibility to secure minors and restrict their access.

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What Is The Importance of KYB and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)?

Know Your Business (KYB) and UBO

Today’s topic is Know Your Business (KYB) and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO). We will also understand the need and the importance of KYB – know your business and Ultimate beneficial ownership. 

There are B2C companies that follow various steps to verify their customers’ identities. This is known as the Know your customer (KYC) process.

Other businesses and financial institutes are obligated to do the same verification process for businesses they onboard. This process is also known as Know Your Business (KYB) or Business Risk Assessment. In the past few years, the need for KYB regulation has been changed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

What is Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)? 

UBO is a beneficiary or a legal entity that is responsible to verify the identity of the customers and ensure that it is not fake. The Ultimate Beneficial Owner also gets the profits for businesses, this is why financial institutions need to identify UBO’s identity. 

UBO verification plays an important step in Know Your business verification and provides relevant information to decide whether FIs should onboard specific businesses. This helps to reduce the chances of various frauds and financial losses. So, you know the importance of Know Your Business. 

When it comes to UBO, the United States FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), the European Union’s 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directives, and the CDD rule, all are intended to guarantee a better way to assess risks that would be helpful to strengthen the anti-money laundering measures.

What is the Customer Due Diligence Rule? 

The FinCEN Customer Due Diligence rule has four fundamental requirements to ensure the transparency of the financial Institutes and to detect any mishaps related to this: another step that explains the importance of know your business. 

Here are the four key requirements:

  1. The identity of the users and the customers is verified. 
  2. The account of the beneficial owners is verified. 
  3. To verify and identify beneficial owners who own 25% or over 25% of a legal entity. 
  4. Developing a customer risk profile for a better understanding of the customer relationship, customer purpose, and customer nature. 

What is the Importance of Know Your Business (KYB)? 

This process helps various businesses to catch the upcoming risk related to the business and their customers or clients. 

This process also helps the regulated entities and banks to stay compliant with the industry regulations.

When we talk about the importance of Know Your Business (KYB), we are trying to say that it is crucial to identify deterring frauds and to protect businesses from mishaps that can lead to huge financial losses. 

This process includes verification of the documents related to the bank records, incorporation, and the source of wealth. And, various KYB platforms are helpful for the businesses to create records with the UBOs and to get access to the databases. Best KYB platforms also help to perform KYC on the UBOs (as an individual) and the operational workflows, and investigation to track the data. This helps to get access to the information for the brief analysis, relevant parties and reporting by regulators. 

As per the regulatory requirement, maintaining a robust compliance program (with KYB) and using risk mitigation strategies with proper due diligence for UBOs is necessary to prevent your business from nefarious intent and also a regulatory requirement.

How does DIRO Play an Important Role in Know Your Business Process? 

It is crucial for business and financial institutes to maintain the integrity of their organization, firm, or institute without neglecting the compliance regulations. This also includes managing and detecting the risks related to the businesses and financial institutes.

DIRO online document verification technology can play a vital role in reducing the load of the verification process in KYB, and UBO verification processes. This is crucial to avoid identity theft and various other financial threats.

DIRO document verification technology provides a quick way to verify incorporation documents, bank accounts, business documents, utility bills, credit bureau reports, tax returns, etc.

DIRO also helps to ease the KYB compliance process with the real-time document verification solution. We as DIRO also assist with UBO identification and shareholder information.