Address Verification: An Insight
‘Validating an address refers to the identification of customers by verifying their addresses before onboarding and transactions.’
Online address verification ensures the smooth carrying out of business processes in order to authenticate the legit customers and also, making sure that the services are reaching the target. Fraudsters, while getting sophiscated, somehow manage to find ways to manipulate the legal documents and cause disruption. As per PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2020, total amount of money lost by the respondents to fraudsters is reported to be US $42 billion.
Address Frauds: Motives and Doers
By Parents; they fake their address to get their children enrolled in a public school which is not a part of their locality. They do so because public schools have this limitation that they can serve in a specific municipality whilst enrolling the children of that very municipality.
By Drivers; drivers sometimes take advantage of address fraud to get the license from somewhere with lenient laws. This is done because of not qualifying the requirements in their own state.
By Offenders; fake addresses are often used by the offenders to save themselves from the police and authorities, so much so they cause fluctuations with their hard to reverse acts in the financial sector by opening fraudulent accounts and credit card frauds. This does not end here, they also cause chargebacks to retailers which are equivalent to fortunes.
By Rich; people with good wealth take support of fake addresses to save themselves from paying high taxes. They mention the address of a place in a low cost region and keep their original one secret.
Around 35.9 million Americans shifted their place of residence last year which left the businesses with outdated information which were their present contact details once.
Address Verification: Course of Action
Address verification systems use in-depth AI technologies to authentically identify customers as well as save the progress for future use. In this way, they assist with the auto-fill option which helps customers and provide one-touch entry. By doing so fraudsters can be identified who target young people mostly, aged 20-29 years. Among all the victims, 54% said they encountered such activities over the internet, rest faced them in other ways, 12% by postal mails and 13% by door to door sales.
Steps Involved
Verification of address has become crucial for every industry because of the rise of fraudsters and their enormous activities which puts information as well as rights of customers at stake. To minimize this, verifying addresses has become a necessity and much easier to outperform due to the online available tools.
- Firstly, the customer is asked to upload a selfie along with the scanned photos of ID documents issued by the respective government. The real-time image is then matched with the one present on the card.
- Secondly, another document that comes as secondary is asked to upload which contains official or residential address, as per requirement, is matched with the information.
- Lastly, the analysis begins during which address is verified by matching the data on the primary document with the secondary one using API which then displays the outcomes. The results can be assessed from the back office as well after they are generated.
- A trailer bill of sale is necessary for the buyer as it helps in claiming the proof that the buyer had paid the agreed amount and had taken the responsibility of the trailer.
Documents Used for Verification
Documents used so far for verifying addresses are all legal, issued and stamped by the governmental authorities.
- ID Cards
- Financial Statements
- Utility Bills
- Invoices
- Passport
- Ownership or Rental Agreement
- Driving License
Upstream Benefits
Address verification systems collect customer addresses ensuring that they are accurate, updated and standardized. These are matched within the databases, ultimately accelerating businesses.
Swift Deliveries
Typo mistakes and incorrect addresses cause failed deliveries which costs retailers an average of 17.20 USD per order leading to loss of 197,730 USD per year. If the address is beforehand verified, it becomes easy for the company to deliver within a time frame. This can be executed by using real time verification tools which also reduces complaints.
Improving Customer Experience
Customers are the backbones of any business if they are not satisfied they won’t take a minute quitting, causing the company fortunes. Customers are greedy for an untroubled process and quick entries which can be provided by auto-fill and correction options to validate addresses.
Fraud Detection
The foremost benefit address verification provides is the detection of fraudulent activities which are carried out mostly by using empty houses. This demands the need to know your customer and their online address verification.
Summing It Up
Businesses can be taken on the right track by verifying addresses which minimize the fraudsters chances of invading in the system. Online verification tools have introduced many innovative and easy-to-use ways for authentic identification of the customers. The process consists of three simple steps which then provide the results within seconds and so much so they are saved for future use.
