KYC, or Know Your Customer, is a process that helps organizations verify the identity of their clients and customers. It's important because it ensures the legitimacy of customer-provided information, and ensures the organization stays on the right side of the law.
The KYC process however, can be a time-consuming and tedious task for both the customer and the company. This is where the Smile API comes in. It can improve this process by providing a simple way to collect, aggregate, validate, and transmit customer information.
Data Collection
The Smile API provides an easy way to collect customer data that is stored in their employment platforms or documents. We get the data from the source, so that there is a higher probability of the reliability and accuracy of the data. If they are a gig worker that data can be from the freelance marketplace platform they have joined. If they are a full-time employee, it can be data from their payslips, employment insurance, or income tax document. All the user needs to do is either link their employment account by logging into their employment platform, or by uploading a photographed or scanned copy of their employment data if its in paper form. All of this data is secured with the permission of the user, and is kept secure at all times.
Data Aggregation and Validation
Smile aggregates data that is typically stored in different places and provides that in a simplified, unified way. Instead of trying to collect then process and analyze this data separately, we can aggregate it for you and present in a standard format or structure. For example, something as simple as a phone number or monetary amounts can be stored and shown in different ways by different data sources. We standardize these types of data points, using commonly used standards such as E.164 for phone numbers or ISO 4217 three-letter code for currencies, making aggregation and analysis of data easier.
Data Transmission
All the data that Smile collects, with the consent of the user, is digitized and sent in a standard format. This data is securely transmitted in an encrypted form. We send data via secure HTTP, the same method that banks use to send data to you when you open your bank account via a browser or mobile app. In this way, private, confidential data is only sent to the parties that the user trusts and no one else.
Summary
Data is the foundation of any financial service business. Without it, companies have a hard time making educated decisions. This is all the more important in the KYC process, where having inaccurate or deficient information can lead to substantial risk. The best way to get accurate, reliable data on customers' employment and income is by getting data from the source, and Smile’s API can help you do that.