The expense and challenges of AML compliance are a huge burden for countless businesses around the world. Laws on financial crime monitoring and controls have increased steadily since the early 2000s, starting in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. The advent of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance protocols, now being adopted by global banks and governments, caused regulators to introduce more requirements for an even wider range of businesses and activities. Fines for non-compliance can reach tens or hundreds of millions of dollars… but so can the cost of compliance for larger firms, due to the vast quantities of technology and highly trained staff it takes to be compliant.
The burden isn’t limited to businesses these rules apply to, though. Whether we talk about individuals or companies, customers of every kind need to endure repeated KYC processes, doling out sensitive information and documents over and over again. Businesses face the prospect of yet more fines if they mishandle all that data, and everyone is left with an increased risk of fraud and identity theft. The most inefficient aspect of this regulatory merry-go-round is the massive duplication of identical checks and processes by so many different firms.
That’s where idclear comes in. Unlike other industry providers, idclear isn’t just a SaaS product to be used by armies of analysts and compliance officers. As a complete service, idclear does all the heavy lifting across the compliance lifecycle, turning the world of AML on its head. Their ecosystem also enables instantaneous onboarding with additional businesses from a single KYC process, making the entire process easier, cheaper and more effective for everyone.
Described as ‘a revolutionary managed and mutualized AML compliance infrastructure’, their services aren’t just targeted at banks and other traditional markets, but also the full gamut of crypto and decentralized finance. Their proprietary ‘asymmetric data mutualization model’ and stellar leadership team have fuelled speculation that idclear is set to become a leading figure in the world’s increasingly digital and interconnected financial system. Today, we’re talking to the experts at idclear to learn more about this incredible solution.
Q: Why is idclear so important in the industry today?
We see this as a pivotal time in many ways. Industry studies have shown that financial crime compliance costs the traditional finance industry more than $200bn each year. Over half of that relates to staff, despite massive investment in technology solutions. That’s a clear indication that SaaS technology alone cannot solve the problem.
At the same time, wider adoption of blockchain and decentralization across sectors is reshaping the entire financial landscape, which regulators are now wrestling to understand and try to control. Consumers and businesses are also using a wider range of financial services than ever before, meaning they are subject to due diligence more than ever before.
Idclear acts as a bridge between all these markets, products and services. Now is the perfect time and opportunity for our mutualized model.
Q: What informed the decision to develop idclear?
The three founders have long track records across financial services, regulation and law, so they had a lot of exposure to the challenges and issues idclear is now addressing. One key influence was that earlier in his career our CEO, Targ Patience, helped to design and build the world’s first clearing house – a centralized risk management market infrastructure – for currency derivatives. Through that experience, it became clear (pun intended) just how much efficiency mutualized risk management can offer.
Q: What does it mean when idclear is referred to as an ‘infrastructure’?
Just like the clearing house mentioned in the previous answer, idclear has been designed according to the principles and standards of a critical market infrastructure. This means that it has been approached from the ground up as a key component of the financial system, delivering critical services. In short, it needs to be robust, reliable and completely secure on a level that most software and tools are not.
Q: Where do you see idclear in 5 years’ time?
Judging by the responses we have received to date, we anticipate some very exciting years ahead. The idclear team has worked hard to plan and prepare for a significant scaling out of the services to meet the needs of such a huge international market, with services to be provided in every region and major language, 24/7. In 5 years’ time, we see ourselves as the world’s leading financial crime risk management service and secure private identity provider.
https://techbullion.com/idclear-reshaping-financial-landscape/