Know Your Customer: The Simplification of Complex International Compliance

Fighting fraud is a good thing, right?

Phishing, spamming, scamming, stealing – our reliance on our multi-app smartphones have rendered us all increasingly vulnerable to attack from the bad guys.

It’s why we should all applaud any efforts by communication regulators to reduce the threat.

Brilliantly, in the background, that’s exactly what is happening. Carriers across the world are being forced to comply with international ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) regulations which ensure that business phone numbers in use in specific countries are bona fide.

In short, a number sourced in a particular country must be transparently allocated to a business that is based there. Numbers provided to a business based in, say, Portugal can now not be secretly used in, say, Africa.

That hitherto-common global agility of phone numbers is a complex business fuelled by the explosion in web-based, super-mobile voice communication applications which are linked to a number which can often sit invisibly in the background.

Forcing providers to demonstrate enhanced control and transparency of international numbers is a powerful weapon against bad actors. Proof of ownership, incorporation, address, payment of fees, and other key information is needed – the kind of legal requirements that successfully disrupt illegal enterprises.

So far, 11 countries have signed-up to the new regulatory regime and new ones are following suit all of the time.

Via our ever-expanding global network of partners – the world’s critical enablers of modern business communications – EvolveIP supports end users in 57 countries across all continents, except Antarctica. For some, compliance can feel like a big challenge. Many don’t know where to start and it often slips to the bottom of the to-do list.

And that’s why we have a dedicated team delivering vital support.

We help our partners navigate the process so they understand what is required, what they must do, and why it matters so much. And, where appropriate, we provide the practical and financial assistance they need to tick all the boxes.

For them, it’s also about adding value to their own customer relationships: demonstrating that security and accountability are, rightly, super-important. And for Evolve IP, it’s about delivering on our constant desire to make doing business with us as easy as possible.

No business likes increased amounts of red tape but, in the communication space, it is necessary to keep pace with the ever-evolving sophistication of the criminal gangs out to profit from technological progress.

Thanks to our and their proactivity, we and our partners are able to play an important part in that ongoing fight.

We are stronger together. And strength underpins success.

Yes, the regulations are changing fast. And yes, this year the challenges will intensify as more and more countries embrace the KYC compliance mission.

But we and our partners are on the front foot. And that’s exactly where we like to be.

P.S. If you’re a communication technology reseller with a potential opportunity in Antarctica, let’s talk!

• Evolve IP UK is a leading provider of digital communication solutions to end user businesses and Managed Service Provider partners. To learn more visit the website 
• International numbers supported- Inbound Only or Toll-Free, find out more about how we support this here