Customer Address Verification Service (CAVS) verifies the personal address provided by a customer at the time of an opening an account with a Bank. For account holders and cardholders, CAVS compares the submitted street address and house number with the values on file at the cardholder’s bank.

Most frauds in Nigeria are perpetuated by people who open account with false documents, and use it for fraud, money laundering and terrorism..

According to the CBN’s report for the first half of 2013 released on February 19, the apex bank said there were 2,478 fraud and forgery cases involving Nigerian banks valued at N22.4 billion..

The figure was higher than the 2,300 recorded cases, valued at N7.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2012. “Of this amount, actual loss incurred by the banks was N3.8 billion, representing 17.1 per cent of the total fraud amount, compared with N2.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2012,”” The amount involved in the fraud incidences also grew from N18.05 billion in 2012 to N21.79 billion in 2013”..

These frauds were perpetuated via fraudulent withdrawals from customers’ accounts, suppression and conversion of customers’ deposits, theft, illegal funds transfer, cheque defalcations, and fraudulent ATM withdrawals, among others..

The British Banker’s Association in her bulletin stated that “ to open an account Banks need to know you are who you say you are and you live where you say you live, hence you need proof of identity and proof of address..

In UK, addresses are verified by cross checking with the Electoral database, The Electoral database contains the list of all eligible voters` in UK. From June 2014 residents need to include the National Insurance number on the Electoral Registration form, this has made the register more secure..

A UK National Insurance number is a unique personal number allocated to an individual for life and is used to identify them to HM Revenue & Customs and the Department of Work and Pensions..

Also in United States, the nine-digit Social Security Number is needed to open an account..

The circle of validity is clear, without proven identity, a person can not have an NI or SSN, and without an NI/SSN/NID, it is not possible to open an account, without an account, there won’t be fraud..

It is difficult for Nigerian banks to meet the above requirements for all accounts because of the precarious nature of our identity and address management system..

In an effort to promote and deepen financial inclusion the CBN introduced the Three-tiers KYC (Know Your Customer) policy, which will enable “flexible account opening requirement for low-value and low –risk accounts that are subject to caps and restrictions as the amount of transactions increases.”.

In attempt to further remove the barriers to financial inclusion, the apex bank in a circular referenced: FPR/DIR/CIR/GEN/01/031, dated September 21, 2012, directed banks to accept voter’s registration card issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a means of customer identification..

The stability within the banking sector and the increased awareness has lead to an explosion in new accounts. To be able to meet the CBN guidelines and safe guard against fraud, Nigeria leading Banks outsourced address verification to specialist companies..

Yamaguchi Nigeria is Africa’s biggest Address Verification and Management Company (AVMC)..

Yamaguchi has trained address verifiers with knowledge of the local area and equipped with android tablets and CUG based mobile phones, in specific units in their geographical coverage areas..

Our customer’s, mostly Banks has an effective mechanism for collection of customer’s details; this is the Bank Address Verification Portal. An online portal that allows Customer Service Officers from all the branches of a Bank to upload customer addresses in real time..

Yamaguchi downloads the information from the Banks portal, the Information will be standardised, validated, spelling checked, modified if need be and then sent via intranet to address verifiers in their respective states, towns and areas..

The verifiers will locate the address, if the address and the name are correct and the customer lives at the address, then the customer or a representative signs an acknowledgement slip and receives a welcome pack, the verifier then writes a report describing the house and location including the NPC number and then takes a picture..

Outsourcing is the future of address verification. The advantages of outsourcing is numerous, these include;.

Professionalism: Financial services is a specialist industry, bankers should not also double as address verifiers. AVMC`s staffs are trained address verifiers, with specialist knowledge of their geographical areas..

Effectiveness: most AVMC has an IT based Intranet, connecting the HQ with all their offices and Address Verifiers are connected by Customer User Group phones and notebooks which provides effective communication and service delivery..

Cost Implication: the experience, expertise and existing system means that they are a cost effective alternative..

Safety of Staff: to protect bank staffs especially vulnerable staff. Security and Fraud Prevention: AVMCs are independent and professionals with no interest, they will verify the addresses and provide the reports and this protects the Banks and prevents fraud..

Compliance: it will make compliance easy..

Brand Awareness: Using AVMC services, increases the brand awareness and goodwill of Banks. It creates the impression of an effective and efficient organization dedicated to providing qualitative banking and other financial services..

Risk Minimization: it enables the Bank to transfers all associated risks, thus concentrating on providing banking services..

Experience: AVMCs have acquired valuable expertise and experience in locating addresses in Nigeria’s very difficult terrain..

Also there is over N50 billion in unclaimed dividends and certificates, while the owners may be languishing in abject poverty. It is ethical for registrars to take appropriate steps to locate the owners of these dividends and certificates..

In a report by First Registrars, the problems associated with share ownership in Nigeria are listed as follows; non-receipt of dividend warrants, Non receipt of share certificate-bond issues and new issues, Loss of contact due to change in addresses, Late receipt of notice for AGM, offer document/rights circulars, Lack of knowledge to know how to handle deceased shareholdings and The hold-tight syndrome..

The solution to these problems is to know the customers very well..

Yamaguchi Nigeria is ready to locate, verify and update information on all new and old accounts and unclaimed dividends and certificate so as to eliminate all the problems listed above. .

The advantages of address verification for Registrars include; improved information updates, proper management of information, improved brand perception and the organisation will be seen to be ethical. .

In most countries, passports, Drivers` licenses and other important documents are sent to recipient addresses, and when it is received and signed for, the address and the identity becomes verified..

The Immigration Service and the Federal Road Safety Commission could utilise the services of AVMC, to verify the addresses of applicants.

YAMAGUCHI: PEACE OF MIND.