Lyons Blog

KYC, or “Know Your Customer,” refers to the due diligence processes used to verify customers’ identities. KYC is completed not only when a company is first introduced to a customer, but also during various times throughout the customer/company relationship. Financial institutions use various KYC strategies as part of their required effort to ensure that none of their customers are engaged in terrorist financing (as is required for OFAC compliance), international money laundering (as is required for AML compliance), and other forms of fraud. Of all the KYC strategies that companies use, one of the most popular is to require that customers pass a knowledge-based authentication process prior to servicing the account.  (more…)

The Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Terrorism and Financial Intelligence division (TFI). It administers trade and economic sanctions against organizations and individuals identified as a threat to the national security, economy, and foreign policy of the United States. In conjunction with other agencies of the federal government, OFAC also enforces legal penalties on any U.S. entities that undermine those sanctions by engaging in business or financial transactions with prohibited foreign entities. Federal law requires all U.S. entities (i.e. both U.S.-based businesses and individual citizens) to 1) comply with OFAC regulations and 2) provide OFAC with evidence of your due diligence in maintaining that compliance. (more…)

Financial technology has made immense strides in the past decade, bringing new levels of convenience to the consumer and corporate markets. App developers are disrupting the financial industry while also supporting the anti-money laundering regulations of federal and international bodies. (more…)

When you conduct business online, you never get to see your end customer and that can make identity verification difficult. Bank routing numbers or ABA routing numbers are an important part of e-commerce risk management. Verifying routing numbers helps ensure that the right information is used for the right account — and the service helps make  sure you get paid the first time you run the account numbers. (more…)