Year in Review: Are You Still Sure You’re KYC Compliant?

One of the most important application areas for biometrics and other identity assurance technologies is ensuring that companies know who their customers are. That’s why the annual FindBiometrics Year in Review survey asks participants how confident they are that their organization meets any applicable Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering laws.

Last year, respondents were pretty confident. About 74.5 percent of those who took the Year in Review Survey for 2020 said that they were confident that their organization was KYC and AML compliant, and 31.8 percent said they were ‘very confident’. Considering that 8.9 percent of respondents said that these kinds of regulations don’t apply to their organization, that made the ration of confident respondents even more reassuring.

The results from this year’s survey may offer an interesting comparison. That’s because some of the world’s most important KYC and AML regulations have taken effect since FindBiometrics’ last Year in Review Survey was conducted. In the European Union, the PSD2 regulation took effect on December 31st of 2020, and while the UK hasn’t been on the same timeline due to Brexit, its financial authority has set a deadline of March 14, 2022, for compliance with the PSD2’s Strong Customer Authentication mandate in Britain.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act took effect on July 1st of this year, establishing strong safeguards for consumers’ private information and regulating how it can be collected and shared.

For some companies operating in the biometrics space, these regulations represent a market opportunity, with many of the affected organizations turning to biometric identity verification technologies to help ensure compliance. Others, however, might now be in a position in which their own activities need to be carefully managed to ensure that they aren’t running afoul of privacy and data protections. It will therefore be interesting to see whether the industry professionals responding to the Year in Review Survey are as confident about KYC and AML compliance in 2021 as they were in 2020.

The survey is still open, so be sure to represent your organization in this year’s results by answering the multiple choice questions below. It’s the best way of getting the clearest picture of the biometrics industry at a critical moment in its evolution.

–

December 20, 2021 – by Alex Perala

Take the 2021 Year in Review Survey now:

The 19th Annual FindBiometrics Year in Review Survey is sponsored by:

More sponsors to be announced!