IDyou’s remote option allows you to complete the verification by using either your desktop, laptop, mobile or tablet device.
With IDyou, your customer can securely send you photos of their identity documents.
Once you have received sufficient identity documents and verified their authenticity, you can arrange a video call with your customer during which you will be prompted to take a photo of them - this is a mandatory component to your remote VOI.With the use of IDyou’s new facial recognition functionality, you can automatically compare the image of your customer against the documents to confirm likeness.
Finally, yourself and your customer are then required to sign the declarations on-screen and IDyou will automatically create a VOI report that is securely stored in the cloud server for nine years.
There are many compliance rules in place that require you (real estate and finance professionals) to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of your customers.
Rule 6.5.2 of the Model Participation Rules states that to comply with the requirement to take reasonable steps, you can either:
Conveyancing rules require you (real estate and finance professionals) to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of your customers - what constitutes reasonable steps is dependent on the circumstances of each case.
Further enquiries should be made where doubt arises, or should reasonably have arisen, concerning a transaction and a person’s identity.
In cases where verification is unable to be conducted in-person for whatever reason, IDyou’s Remote option allows you to complete the verification by ‘electronic’ means and conduct further steps to satisfy yourself of the person’s identity.
Conducting verification electronically is mentioned in the ARNECC Model Participation Rules Guidance Note 2 [page 5, 5.5 Further Steps].VOI rules require that finance professionals take reasonable steps to verify the identity of their customers.
What constitutes reasonable steps is dependent on the circumstances of each case.
However, in Schedule 8 of its Model Participation Rules, ARNECC sets out a Verification of Identity Standard, which if followed is deemed to constitute reasonable steps (Rule 6.5.6).
The VOI Standard requires:
It is a common misconception that if you stray from the VOI Standard you are not taking ‘reasonable steps’.
Of course, it is advised to follow the VOI standard whenever possible as it can provide a safe harbour, however, it is important to note that the VOI standard is not mandatory in situations where it is not possible to follow.
There are circumstances in which an in-person interview is not possible due to remoteness and in those cases, you can conduct VOI by taking other reasonable steps.“ARNECC explicitly acknowledges this type of remote situation.”
It provides a list of examples of further steps that can be taken, citing one example as “where the verification is unable to be conducted in-person due to remoteness conducting the verification by ELECTRONIC MEANS with further steps to satisfy yourself of the person’s identity.”
ARNECC Model Participation Rules Guidance Note 2Option 1: You can send customers to their local post office - but remember the long queues, delays and high costs associated with this exercise.
Option 2: Offer couriers to conduct the VOI on your behalf. But think about it, will your customers feel comfortable handing over their ID to a stranger?Using a solution like IDyou to conduct VOI remotely is the best and most secure option after an in-person VOI.
Some may question the security of digital solutions such as IDyou but the reality is that a manual state of conducting VOI is fraught with security and privacy dangers.
Finance professionals, like yourself, commonly complain about having hard copies of customer’s ID floating around their suitcase and office.
Why take that risk? The fines for an accidental release of such private information are substantial and can destroy your reputation.
Some finance professionals are photographing and using generic apps to convert ID documents to PDF but this practice is also fraught with danger because a customer’s ID ends up on their camera roll.
When it comes to IDyou, no information is stored on any device.It is important to remember that even when the VOI Standard is followed, brokers must undertake further enquiries where doubt arises, or should reasonably have arisen (Rule 6.5.3).
As a guide, The Participation Rules require further steps to be taken where: