This act was enacted in response to the 9/11 terrorist acts. The intent is for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to verify the identity of all people who do business with them. It has become clear that terrorist groups have used our banking industry to funnel money to commit crimes.

"Know Your Customers" has never mattered more
with identity theft and other financial fraud on the increase, its good business to put effective prevention measures in place. Now there's an even more compelling reason for knowing who your customers are.

To comply with the USA Patriot Act, you are required to verify the identity of members applying for and opening new accounts or services with your institution. Information you are required to obtain includes name, mailing and residence address, tax identification number, date of birth and a copy of a government issued photo ID. Additional information may also be needed depending on the type of account applied for or opened. Identification and information on existing clients will be gathered as they open or use additional services offered by your institution. The Act requires you to maintain records of the identification verification and to periodically update this information. Confidentiality of the information gathered and used has to be maintained as required under the Privacy Act. The Act itself was passed in an effort to improve public safety.

Once a customer's identity has been ascertained, ID Point checks the name against government watch lists maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for known or suspected terrorists. Finally, the date-stamped results are filed along with copies of the documents used to open the account, allowing the bank to demonstrate to regulators that a proper search was conducted. "Under the Patriot Act you have to verify identity, you have to save the [identity] check, and you have to hit against the OFAC list,"

Verify America Product       

As an alternative non-social security number database, the Verify America Product has in-depth information on U.S. individuals and associative links. Historical & Current residential information, Individual’s possible relatives and associates, aliases, date of birth verification, telephone numbers, deceased and mover indicators are all essential elements in the verification process.

Other critical Applications we serve: