Know Your Customer (KYC) & Identity Verification

Know Your Customer (KYC) in Telecom

Scammers and bad actors use any means available to take advantage of consumers. Unfortunately, this could implicate your business in their crimes. Organizations must be vigilant in vetting potential customers to prevent their software, services, or tools from falling into the wrong hands.

The telecom industry is aware of this and has adopted a Know Your Customer (KYC) Strategy to prevent scammers from benefiting from legitimate services.

Telecom Industry Focuses on Digital Identity and Know Your Customer (KYC) is at the heart of protecting consumers and businesses from fraud. Recent advancements in technology mean that service providers must confirm digital identities.

• The telecom industry is evolving alongside the techniques used by bad actors. While digital identity verification moves toward a user-centric model that improves convenience, service providers must improve their processes to ensure accuracy.
• So far, telecom leaders have embraced Caller Name Presentation (CNAP), STIR/SHAKEN, and rich call data (RCD). Some stragglers haven't conformed to KYC standards, but the FCC and major service providers in the industry have pressured them to adopt reasonable regulations. It's an ongoing struggle, but closing regulatory loopholes shows promising signs.

The Importance of KYC Compliance

KYC compliance helps restore the public's trust in incoming phone calls. Some research shows that the average American receives more than three scam calls daily. Generative AI has made the situation increasingly dire as scammers use the technology to impersonate the loved ones of their targets.

Criminals have made a lot of money from these and other scams. Reporting on trends in 2022, the FCC says that:

• Scam calls stole $8.8 billion from Americans.
• Impersonator scams robbed Americans of $3.8 billion.
• Investment scams cost Americans $3.8 billion.

These numbers show a shocking increase in the effectiveness of criminal behavior. Not surprisingly, people have lost faith and stopped answering calls from unknown numbers. That often means people don't answer legitimate calls about serious topics, including healthcare and product recalls.

Restoring Consumer Confidence

Following Know Your Customer guidelines is obviously the right thing for service providers to do. Failing to uphold KYC rules, however, does more than tarnish a company's reputation. It can lead to fines and removal from the Robocall Mitigation Database, which effectively blocks them from participating in the U.S. telecom system.

The FCC is taking action against service providers that don't conform to standards. In February, the agency removed 12 companies from the Robocall Mitigation Database. All voice service providers and intermediary providers will stop accepting calls from the designated entities.

Dangers of Working with Untrusted Partners

Ensuring your organization works with trusted partners helps build a positive reputation with your clients and consumers. In October 2023, the FCC removed 20 voice service providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database, effectively blocking them from doing business in the US. Companies that facilitated calls through these providers were kept from reaching their consumers.

How Can Service Providers Comply with KYC Standards?

A few simple steps can help service providers know their customers and comply with KYC standards:

First, service providers must confirm their customers' identities before granting them access to tools. Instead of trusting that a company or person is who they claim to be, require some kind of evidence.

For example, you might require an email from an address that includes the company's domain name. If you receive a message from a suspicious email address (such as contact@calleridrep.com instead of contact@calleridreputation.com), you should take a closer look into the customer's identity before approving them.

Second, you should know what your potential customers do. Legitimate companies won't struggle to explain their missions. They will use straightforward language that tells you what products and services they offer. If they can't answer such a basic question, consider them a threat to your reputation, other businesses, and the public.

Third, you should continue monitoring your customers to identify unlawful behaviors as soon as possible. Do their metrics suggest that they use robo-dialers unlawfully? Are analytics engines spot scripts and techniques common among scammers?

If any activity concerns you, take steps to confirm the customer's identity and business goals. You might want to sever ties with any unsavory businesses before they damage your reputation.

KYC Principles Are Essential

Caller ID Reputation's services help companies maintain positive phone number reputations so they can reach more leads. The software includes tools for real-time reporting when numbers receive blocks or labels, actual device testing that shows users what consumers see on their caller ID screens, and number redress remediation when numbers receive unwarranted labels or blocks.

Bad actors could rely on Caller ID Reputation's software solutions to continue dialing consumers illegally. Knowing this, we take Know Your Customers principles very seriously, so it doesn't unintentionally assist unlawful activity.

For more information on Know Your Customer Telecom visit FCC.gov.

Identity and Entity Verification Policy

How does identity verification work?

RingzU Telecommunications Corporation works with Stripe to conduct identity verification online. Stripe builds technology that is used by millions of companies around the world such as Amazon, Google, and Zoom. Stripe helps with everything from accepting payments to managing subscriptions to verifying identities.

Stripe helps RingzU Telecommunications Corporation confirm your identity by conducting the following checks:

• Stripe captures images of the front and back of your government-issued photo ID and reviews it to make sure that the document is authentic. They have built an automated identity verification technology that looks for patterns to help determine if a government-issued ID document is real or fake. This process is like a bank teller checking your ID document to confirm that it's real.
• Stripe captures photos of your face and reviews them to confirm that the photo ID belongs to you. They've built automated identity verification technology that uses distinctive physiological characteristics of your face (known as biometric identifiers) to match the photos of your face with the photo on the ID document. This process is similar to a bank teller confirming that the photo on your ID document is based on your appearance—but it's a higher-tech and more accurate way to identify you as a unique person.
• Stripe collects your name, date of birth, and government ID number, and validates that it is real. They will check this information against a global set of databases to confirm that it exists.
• Stripe asks for your consent before collecting and using your biometric information. They'll only use your verification data in accordance with the permissions you grant before starting the verification process, and based on their Privacy Policy.

Learn more about how Stripe handles and stores your data.

We use Stripe Identity for identity verification and other business services. Stripe collects identifying information about you and the devices that connect to its services, which includes the use of cookies.

Stripe uses this information to operate and improve the services it provides to us, including for fraud detection, authentication, and analytics.

You can learn more about Stripe, Stripe Identity, and read its privacy policy at https://stripe.com/privacy.

What are the best practices for a successful verification?

Before starting the verification process, here is what you need:

• A valid government-issued photo ID document. Not a photocopy or a picture of a government-issued ID document. Make sure that the ID document isn't expired.
• A device with a camera—use a mobile device if possible. Cameras on mobile devices typically take higher-quality photos than a webcam.

The quality of the images you capture affects success rates dramatically. Below are a few best practices to help make sure that your verification succeeds:

• Capture a clear image. Make sure that the images aren't too dark or bright, and do not have a glare. Hold steady and allow your camera to focus to avoid blurry photos.
• Do not block any part of your ID document in the image. Ideally you can lay it flat to take the photo.
• Do not block any part of your face. Remove sunglasses, masks, or other accessories.
• Find a location with ambient lighting. Avoid spaces with strong overhead lights that cast a shadow on your face or ID document. Avoid sitting directly in front of a bright light which can wash out your face and add a glare to your ID document.

Additional Information

Both RingzU Telecommunications Corporation and Stripe have access to the information that you submit through the verification flow. We rely on Stripe to help store your verification data. Stripe uses access controls and security standards that are at least as stringent as those used to handle their own KYC and payments compliance data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why am I asked to verify my identity?

Under Federal Know Your Customer Telecom laws you must be a verified and eligible user of the network and have access to the Nationwide calling system. To block against money laundering and crimes that may be against people including children.

Why was I rejected?

It's most likely quality of the ID or the image captured. You may reach out to customer care to plan to verify yourself with them.

Can I get verified using a different method?

Depending on the services you need from us, there may be other avenues to validate your identity or that of your business entity. Please call customer service at 888-848-4855 to discuss the next steps.

How can I access or delete my verification data?

RingzU Telecom USA has elected to not store or hold any part of a customer's private or personal data. To keep us both safe you may need to reach out to Stripe directly to request any information they have to be deleted. Be aware that there is some information that may not be deleted under law for a period of time once application for services is submitted. RingzU is a no info company, believing your data is safest under your own control.