Are you really who you claim to be? Electronic answers (II)

Technology generates more technology. A mere decade ago, remembers Andrew Cave , the Internet had only just come into commercial use and many companies still didn’t have websites. Before then, money launderers got along fine without abusing online accounts, not to mention phishing for customer details and spoofing websites. MLROs had also managed without software devoted to online identity verification but the speed of commerce and real-time expectations of financial institutions mean a whole new subset of the anti-money laundering software industry has sprung up.

Money laundering and identity fraud online are set to rise due to the ease by which transactions can now be conducted from the comfort of a home, mobile or handheld computer. At the same time, the bedrock of international law and regulation to combat money laundering is identity verification of potential and in some cases existing customers, and many financial services groups are now investing in online identity verification systems. The question is how effective are they and how deeply do they probe identification data?