What is an AML (electronic ID) check

An AML check within Xama consists of 3 separate searches.

1. An electronic ID check

2. A search for Political Exposed Persons (PEPs)

3. A search for Sanctioned individuals

This article focuses on the electronic ID check which may have 3 possible results: Pass, Refer or Alert.

The most common result, other than a Pass, is a Refer result and this article provides guidance on the most common reasons a Refer result occur and how to manage such a result.

How an electronic ID check works

To understand why an electronic ID check may produce a Refer result, it is first necessary to explain what it tries to achieve.

An electronic ID check is designed to verify an identity without the use of documents. In Xama it is most commonly used alongside the collection of documents (identity and proof of address).

Input data

An electronic ID check requires some minimum input requirements:

• First and last name

• Postcode

• Country of residence (At Xama we only support electronic ID checks for UK residents)

However, we strongly recommend that all the following information is filled out on a contact before triggering an AML check:

• First and last name (ensure that the middle name is not included in either the first or last name field)

• Date of birth

• Full address, including the street and house or apartment number. (Ensure the postcode is populated within the postcode field and not included within the street or city fields)

• Either the passport or driving licence number and its expiry date.

  • For passport numbers, you need to use the full MRZ2 code, including an chevrons (“>”). This is the 44 digits you will find as the very last line of data on a UK or international passport.

  • For UK driving licences this is the first 16 digits of the driving licence number.

Data matching (a 2 x 2 check)

A 2×2 electronic identity check is a verification process that confirms an individual’s identity using information from two independent and reliable data sources.

How it Works:

• The process first attempts to verify the individual’s details using two separate data sources, such as:

  • The Electoral Register – confirming name and address details.

  • Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) – verifying financial history, residency, and personal information.

• If two independent matches are found, the identity check is deemed successful, and no further verification is required.

• However, if only one match is found (or no match at all), the system will attempt to verify the individual’s identity using an official document number, such as a passport or driving licence number.

Most common reasons for a Refer result

First of all it is important to understand that not every individual can be verified through an electronic ID check. Typical successful match rates on 2×2 electronic ID checks across UK residents are around 85 – 90%.

However, by making sure of the following you can minimise Refer results from occurring. These are the most common mistakes we see being made with Input data which can cause a Refer result:

• The first or last name is not correct. Ensure the following:

  • The middle name is not included in either of these fields.

  • The first and last name matches exactly that on the passport.

  • Pay special attention to shortened names or nicknames (for example the use of Jenny instead of Jennifer)

• All possible input data is not present or contains typos:

  • Ensure all data is populated before running the AML check. Providing the full document number and expiry date enhances the changes of a PASS result quite a lot.

  • Ensure the data does not contain typos. This includes data that was extracted electronically from documents. OCR functionality may contain errors and these should be corrected before running the AML check.

• International residents – You may still want to use the AML check for checking PEP or Sanctions status for international residents. However you should always expect a Refer result on the electronic ID check.

If you still receive an Refer result

If you have checked the input data and still receive a Refer result we do not recommend re-running the check multiple times. As mentioned previously match rates on UK residents is not 100% and you should be prepared to verify identities by a different means.

This video, explaining how to manage the verification of an identity of international residents will also apply to those UK residents for which a Pass result cannot be obtained:

The video will show how you can:

• Refer to an identity document (such as passport or driving licence) – for verifying the persons name and date of birth.

• Refer to a valid proof of address document (such as a bank statement or utility bill) – for verifying the persons address.

Once these documents are in place and you can confirm that the data on the documents matches to that of the identity you are verifying you can apply a Manual Pass to the electronic ID check. We recommend that you make notes explaining why a Manual Pass is applied such that you can reference these later.