AI Issue 9 2017

32 Acquisition International - September 2017 W2 provides a wide range of Software as a Service (SaaS) screening tools to help organisations conduct regulatory Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Fraud prevention due diligence. Services include ID and Age verification, PEP & Sanctions screening and device location or reputation management. W2’s services are not limited to a specific country, they operate on a global scale. rganisations are obliged to conduct KYC (Know Your Customer) due diligence on all consumers applying to open an account. This practice has become routine at the start of a client on-boarding process. In addition, ongoing monitoring of the existing customer-base is essential as the initial KYC due diligence conducted at the point of application is ‘perishable’. The original information used at the point of account opening may be past its shelf-life, no longer relevant and a business needs to know that the client it on-boarded months ago, is still a ‘fit and proper’ person or a reputable organisation. Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) guidelines and the 3rd & 4th Anti-money laundering directives state that, “on-going perpetual screening of the entire client-base should be conducted on a regular basis.” But it would be prohibitively expensive to re-run KYC on all client records, especially if the interpretation of the word ‘regular’ was on a daily or even monthly basis. Just screening or checking a new customer at the start of your relationship, can leave a business exposed. Should the information available about that individual or entity change throughout the time that the business interacts with them, they need to be able to decide, almost immediately, whether they wish to continue that relationship based on the new risk that they may present. The most obvious risk they run is that the business starts to be exposed to an individual or entity that becomes sanctioned by their government, or, could be likely to expose them to Fraud and Money Laundering. They could even find themselves linked, inadvertently, to the funding of Terrorism. To address these needs and issues, W2 Global data have developed a range of products which are the KYCchecker™ a fully integrated API gateway, SAVI™ a web based desktop portal, BSMART™ for ongoing monitoring and AMLchecker™ a portal for the SME sector. W2 supports a wide range of clients in the regulated, government and business community across the globe, and is primarily focused on selling to the payments, e-gaming, legal and foreign exchange markets. Over 100 organisations around the world rely on data, and/or services provided by W2 to meet their regulatory or risk management Contact: Sara West Contact Tel: 0330 088 9542 Contact Email: [email protected] Website: www.w2globaldata.com Company: W2 Global Data 24 CBTC2, Capital Business Park, Cardiff, CF3 2PX, UK Operating on a Global Scale O 1709AI10 requirements. W2 have partnered with some of the world’s largest data providers to ensure their customers get a selection of data providers with simple access to reliable information, all from one contract with W2. W2 own their products and offer flexibility and configuration for access to different data sources. Also, they can add new data sources as and when required, and checks are carried out in an agreed logical sequence that makes the most commercial sense for each company/user. On top of this is BSMART™, an innovative product in the market place putting W2 in the enviable position of being able to offer a truly end to end solution. W2 solutions require minimal implementation and simplify how organisations conduct screening automatically at the frequency the business requires. There is also resilience and a back-up process to allow for alternative data sources if others are unavailable. W2 aims to provide solutions and products to fit the market needs, and to meet regulatory changes ahead of companies needing to be compliant. As an example, BSMART was developed to meet changes in 3rd and 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) around requirements for batch screening. W2 are always keeping up-to-date with changing regulations to identify opportunities to help businesses. An objective for W2 in 2016 was to gain market share globally. This was met by taking on new clients outside of just UK. This growth continues at a pace into 2017. In April, W2 received Mercia Fund Management’s largest ever Growth Fund investment, a substantial follow on investment from Finance Wales and other existing shareholders. The investment was for growth capital which has gone into funding the expansion of W2’s sales, marketing and technical capability in the UK and international markets and further capacity to service and support the growing client base needs. In terms of the future, W2 is currently running several key projects updating the existing product range to allow W2 to continue to meet customer needs, exceed expectations and stay at the forefront of the Fintech and Regtech industry. One