ID Check, developed by Elian Due Diligence Services and launched two months ago, is considered to be one of a kind and was created in the Island in an attempt to cut the time and cost involved for regulated businesses to gather identity information from individual clients.
Most importantly, the app, unlike other CDD solutions, works wherever the client lives and can be used anywhere in the world with a mobile signal, making it a genuinely global solution for business, no matter where their clients are based. The app has already gone live for a handful of firms and is in pre-production for more than 40 others.
‘ID Check is a first-of-its-kind innovation with the potential to revolutionise the way regulated firms collect identity information from their clients,’ said Dan Le Blancq, director of Elian Due Diligence Services. ‘Two months after launching the service we’re delighted with the response. We’re attributing the success of the app to its ability to be used by clients anywhere in the world and to meet the anti-money laundering requirements of many regimes, ensuring it can be used by any business with a global client base.
‘When we developed the app we could find no tools or services on the market that could satisfy this requirement, meaning that we’d need to adopt a different approach to gathering CDD in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate – an incredibly inefficient process. That is, in part, what prompted us to develop ID Check. We rolled the app out to our own teams and found that it provided such great efficiencies that we decided to offer the service to other regulated businesses.
‘We have seen submissions made through the ID Check app come in from individuals in many countries, including Russia, Japan, China, Uruguay, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Most interestingly we’ve had a submission from an elderly lady living in the Amazon whose daughter helped her to use the app. Another business was not expecting to receive CDD from its client for many weeks when he told them he was in a South African mine – this was not the case as the individual used the app and submitted it immediately.’
Firms taking up the ID Check service will, within days, be able to offer their individual clients a secure and paperless channel for the submission of identity information, through an app wrapped in their own brand. Behind the scenes, Elian Due Diligence Services will then apply a range of e-verification methods and provide a comprehensive, single-page verification report to the firm to satisfy applicable AML requirements.
‘Jersey’s regulatory regime is one of the strongest and most sensible in the world. Throughout development of ID Check we kept in close contact with the Jersey regulator, keeping them informed of what we were creating. To have been able to develop an app that satisfies not only the requirements of Jersey’s regulation, but also the AML requirements of other regimes, will certainly streamline the way global businesses approach the collection of CDD,’ said Mr Le Blancq.
ID Check is aimed at any business operating in regulated legal or financial services markets, where strict anti-money laundering rules apply. They are stand-alone services that can be used together to offer a complete solution or as separate services depending on a firm’s needs.
Name: Neil Dingle
Name of business: The Leek ‘n’ Bean
When established: 2012
Position: Manager
Number of employees: Three
Your first job? Apprentice at The Portofino Restaurant on Mont Le Vaux.
Your first break in business? My partner Jacqui and I decided to open the business because we wanted to have some fun with food and I missed the trade as I had come out of it nine years earlier. We saw the unit for sale, saw the potential in the area and went for it. Jacqui has her own career but keeps the books and accounts in order.
What could the States do to help businesses? The States, in my opinion, can’t help overly with businesses. It’s down to people to work hard, find their comfort zone and give customers what they require while keeping the business profitable and not overcharging. There has to be a happy balance. Parking is a problem but that’s down to overbuild of offices and unnecessary buildings in Jersey.
Advice to anyone setting up in business? A business plan is a must, and research everything before jumping in. My old mate, Alan Guy, from Guys of Georgetown, always told me: ‘Be first in and last to leave, and don’t expect your staff to do anything you wouldn’t.’ Sound advice to anyone.
Best thing about being in business in Jersey? Simple, your customers. We have built relationships with our clients in the shop and our corporate clients. They are a part of us and the business.
And the most frustrating? Red tape and certain States departments.
Family? My son Rob runs the shop with me. He is a qualified chef and a great person to share the business with. My daughter Katrina is a manager for a legal company in Jersey.
Hobbies/interests outside work? Walking our dog Chelsea, fishing when possible and, primarily, distance running. Jacqui and I are both committed runners.
Favourite way to unwind after a hard day at work? Either taking Chelsea on the cliff paths or the beach or getting the running gear on and doing a 10/15k run. We get to speak more while running as there is no disturbance from mobiles or internet.
