Member Verification Service for UK Credit Unions

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom - British credit unions have a new tool to fight money laundering while complying with Verification and ID Solution regulations required by the Financial Services Authority, the regulatory agency for all United Kingdom financial institutions. The first requirement of Verification & ID Solutions is to have sufficient information to decide that a new or existing customer is who they say they are. The Association of British Credit Unions, Ltd. has signed a contract with Callcredit that will let credit unions check the identities of all potential members online. Callcredit, part of the Skipton Information Group, is the UK's state-of-the art consumer credit reference agency. The checking service is called CallML and combines a number of data sources including the electoral roles. "Like all financial services organizations, our credit unions are required by anti-money laundering legislation to check the identities of everyone who wants to join. As an online service, CallML is easy to implement, very cost effective, completes a check in seconds and provides a full audit trail," said ABCUL's Membership Services Manager Lucia Webster said. Credit unions will receive discounted rates. The service is available 24/7. For small credit unions operating with volunteers, this is a distinct advantage, ABCUL said. -dlnelson7@hotmail.com