Top 8 Reasons Why Stricter ID Verification Is Helpful for Business

A strict ID verification system is important for your business. Strong security, top-notch customer service, and having a reputation as a reliable company help your business grow. We have some tips for you about why business ID verification is essential.

What is ID Verification?

ID verification is an offline or online process to check a person’s identity. Verification is necessary for common transactions such as opening a checking account or IRS tax documentation. Some ways to verify identity are:

Knowledge-Based Authentication

Knowledge-based authentication (KBA) verifies identity with answers to security questions. Additional measures for KBA safety include requirements to answer questions within a time limit. The advantage of using knowledge-based authentication processes is an easy verification method for users to use and understand. A big disadvantage of KBA is it is easy to discover personal information through social media and use this knowledge for identity theft.

Document Scan and QR Code Scan

ID verification is useful when you want to link a document or card with your online account. Banks and other financial institutions often use document scans or QR codes. A QR code is a machine-readable graphic code consisting of black and white squares. These typically store URLs or other information. For ID verification, users scan the QR code with their smartphone camera to unlock the information.

Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication requires users to have personal identification called a token as well as usernames and passwords. A token is a code messaged or emailed to a user. Two-factor authentication has been used for various tasks such as creating accounts and resetting passwords. This ID verification is useful for strong security because authentication takes two security steps. Two-factor authentication is a difficult verification method if users don’t have smartphones or other accounts for the token authentication process.

Biometrics Authentication

Biometrics uses a person’s physical traits to verify identity. The biometrics include fingerprints, voice recognition, retina and iris scans, and facial characteristics.

Benefits of ID Verification Process

Security is essential for your business, and ID verification can help keep your business secure. Among the reasons and benefits for using ID verification are customer experience, hacking, staff security, business reputation, and insurance requirements. Data protection laws, due diligence, and risk management are other benefits of the ID verification process.

1. Customer Experience

Strong security systems like ID verification are vital to retaining customers for your business. Having a reputation as a reliable company helps you know your customer (KYC) and deliver secure customer experiences. Your customers are essential to your business. They need confidence you can keep their data safe when they use your website and give their data to you. Having a strict ID verification system is a good KYC practice that helps protect your customers against fraud. Safeguarding their personal information with the most up-to-date methods assures them your business is reputable.

2. Preventing Crime

Strong ID verification is critical to staying ahead of sophisticated criminals who can steal customer data. Scams and cybercrime are on the increase, ruining customer trust, compromising data protection, and destroying business reputations. Staying ahead of hackers, phishers, and scammers with ID verification is vital to keep your data safe. Using ID verification such as biometrics or two-step authentication can bolster your safety against hacking, phishing, and scammers.

3. Trusted Staff

Stricter ID verification is important to assure your customers you have checked employee backgrounds. If your company provides, for example, repair people, your customers should be comfortable with allowing them in their homes. For those who work onsite, this staff may have access to customer and business records, budgets, personal data, and other information essential to your business. Customer data is vulnerable to attack when employees without ID verification work at a business. You need to know your employees have the correct identification, credentials, and qualifications.

4. Data Reliability

To protect your business, having up-to-date and secure ID verification systems will help your data protection and keep customer data safe. Up-to-date ID verification can help you know your customer and keep track of best KYC practices. Taking time to review your security to keep your technology current will make a positive difference to your business security.

5. Insurance Requirements

Business insurance is a standard requirement, but claims for security breaches are commonplace. Insurance companies are tightening up their clauses for claims when selling you policies. More often, insurance brokers require that businesses have processes for stricter ID checks. Companies without processes or adequate ID verification arrangements could void a policy. Not only should you check the small print and make sure you are covered, but be forward-thinking and have an ID verification policy for your business. 

6. Data Protection Laws

Data protection laws require you to protect customer data and prevent cybercrime. Your staff should have ID verification and be trained in data protection and compliance to keep data secure. For example, data protection laws make it illegal to share data without permission. A serious data breach can lead to legal problems. ID verification can help you hire staff that understands how to manage sensitive data, compliance, and keeps breaches from happening.

7. Anti-money Laundering Compliance

Money laundering is the illegal processing and movement of money to hide its source. With ID verification, you can know your customer and strengthen your anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and processes by proving staff and customers are who they say they are. Your KYC practices can help track their financial data better. Businesses should check the source of their funds with AML compliance and processes and ID verification to retain customer trust. Using a system to detect financial irregularities such as AML compliance can help your customers as well as your business from fraud and financial loss.

8. Managing Risk

ID verification can help you manage risk. Assessing levels of risk is useless without data. Knowing who has access to your data, the competency of those people who have access to your data, and the verifiable status of those who have access to your business data can keep your business free from data breaches and data misuse. Having stricter processes such as ID verification are part of your risk mitigation. With staff training, encryption, and ID verification, you give your customers peace of mind that their data is secure. Working to mitigate data breaches and fraud through ID verification and other processes, you will have the confidence of customers and protect your business from damaging hacks and scams.

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5 Ways to Verify Your Sources

When you are writing for academia or research purposes, knowing your sources are legitimate is an important part of the process. You want to know that your stories and facts are accurate, and came from a reliable source. It is especially difficult on the internet to decide if something is true or not, as many things on the web can be faked or forged.

When you find a source you would like to use, take some time to verify the validity.

But how can you tell that your sources are always trustworthy? 

Here are five ways to background check your sources:

1 – Background Check of the Author

Academic or non-fiction works should always have an author listed, and a location – perhaps the university or lab where the research took place, or just where they happen to live. There are websites that are most often used by employers to screen potential employees, but if you are really dedicated, you can sometimes screen people to find out their education background.

For example, at ScoutLogic, they have an education screening that can indicate the highest degree completed. That way, you can find out if an author with the Master’s degree really has one, or if the “research” you’re reading is unverified.

2 – Primary, Secondary, Etc.

The next thing you should do is determine what type of source you’re looking at:

  • Primary sources are the best options – they are actual, first-hand account of events or research. They are considered the authority on the subject but can occasionally lack objectivity.
  • Secondary sources are a step beyond primary sources, and usually involve some kind of interpretation or analysis of a primary option.

Anything that doesn’t count as either of these two types should be suspicious. Try to only cite works that fall into one of these categories.

3 – Fact Checking

If you’re looking at an article or research report, it will cite other sources with similar (or even opposing) data. Don’t just look up one thing and take it at face value. Compare it against other research and information in the same field.

If there is numerical data involved, make sure to double check the numbers to see if they add up. Not all data findings will be the same, but you should have a collection to back up your points and not just pick one and assume it’s the best choice.

4 – Look at the Web Address

If you are using resources from the internet, check the web address of the writing. If it comes from a “.com” or “.org” website, it may not be the most reliable option.

Try to find sources from “.edu” and “.gov” websites, which are more likely to have legitimate research and information. Some other types of websites will use data from these, so just be sure to check where your data is coming from before you use it.

5 – Check the Dates

It’s a little different if you are looking for historical information, but checking for the most recently updated data can help the validity of your research.

We learn new things everyday, and all subjects are consistently evolving. Even historical data can be “updated” to some extent, as we learn more about translation and find more artifacts, for instance.

Be sure to always look at the dates on your sources. Anything older than 10 years is likely to be disproved!

Conclusion

Research can feel like a tedious process, but it’s important to know your sources are accurate and legitimate. Taking the extra time to verify things like the date, the source, and the author’s background can help support your own research, too. Follow these guidelines and you will find excellent resources.

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